The Visitor
by kitty27
Summary: (finished) A visitor arrives on Eternia and becomes the cause of a great battle, not only between the forces or good and evil, but for He-Man himself.
1. Chapter 1

FIRST I want to say that I do not own any of the rights to HE-man or the characters. I believe Mattel does. This is just for fun. Enjoy.  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: THE PRACTICAL JOKE  
  
The Black Hills of South Dakota, USA, Planet Earth at dusk.  
  
"They've got to be kidding me," Erin mumbled to herself as she drove the jeep sharply between two trees onto a deserted clearing. Her supervisor, Bill, sent her on yet another complaint of strange lights in the sky. Every now and then, she would come across some alien crazy geek that wanted to be abducted but mostly it was just campers who claim they see the lights would just get annoyed and leave. Usually what it amounted to was a couple of kids in the woods with flashlights, laser pointers, or the headlights of some car where a couple was making out in the front seat. For all the times she had been out to "check on" the mysterious lights, she had never once seen anything odd. "Must be another practical joke," she smirked. She reached over to the passenger side and scratched her rottweiler, Jerry, on the head. Jerry nuzzled her hand and went back to sleep. The sun was setting over the dark trees and the temperatures quickly dropped faster and faster. Chilled, Erin slowed the jeep to a stop in the middle of the clearing and grabbed her coat and flashlight from the back seat. "Will wait a few minutes then head back," she said to the sleeping dog. As she looked around the clearing, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. New to the National Forestry Service, Erin got all the grunt jobs. Bill said it was because she was a rookie. She thought it was because she was a girl. She knelt down and picked up some wet dirt from the ground, shook it in her hand and then threw it back down. She wiped her hands on her khaki pants and stood back up. "Well, I think we've spent sufficient time out her on this wild goose.." She stopped abruptly when she saw the faint, blue glow coming from the trees. "What the." she said. "Kids with flashlights maybe." She grabbed her backpack from the jeep. "C'mon Jerry," she called. The big dog, perked up and jumped from the car following his master into the woods. Erin made her way across the clearing and started hiking through the huge pine trees. The sun was now almost completely set. The light was a little further on.. "This has to be a joke," she thought to herself. As she and Jerry got closer, she was astounded at what she was seeing: a large blue circle of swirling lights between two pine trees. It was so beautiful it was almost mesmerizing. Jerry barked at it for a few seconds then stopped and cocked his head. Erin stood in silence trying to grasp what she was seeing. Suddenly, Jerry went running toward the light full speed. "Jerry, No!" Erin yelled as she followed her dog, but it was two late, Jerry ran into the light and disappeared. "Jerry!" Erin yelled again. She could hear the dog barking in the light. She turned around as if she was looking for help even though she knew she was alone. Just then, Jerry popped his head out of the light and grabbed Erin by the back of the coat and pulled her into the light. "What..." her voice echoed as the light faded away. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: AN ATTENTION GETTER  
  
Castle Grayskull, Eternia The Sorceress hadn't felt right all day. Something was clouding her mind and this bothered her. She leaned against a moss covered stonewall and tried to get her bearings. Suddenly, a sharp flash shot through her knocking her to her knees. "Aahh!" she moaned clutching her head. "What in.. Eternia is.. happening to me?" The pain subsided but it knocked all of the energy out of her. Using what little she had left, she used telepathy to send for reinforcements. "Prince Adam..."  
  
Meanwhile, at Snake Mountain.. "Come quick!" Evil-Lyn yelled to her furry cohort Beast Man. The big red ogre stumbled into the chamber where Skeletor lay toppled over in this bony throne rubbing his temples. "Someone had better..explain this..to me..NOW!" he roared, obviously weakened by the flash that just shot through him. In all her years in Skeletor's service, Evil-Lyn had never seen her master crippled by.well nothing visible ever before. For a split second she considered taking advantage of the moment and taking care of Skeletor once and for all but she was cut off at the pass. "Don't even think about it Evil-Lyn," Skeletor warned as he started to sit up while leaning on his havoc staff. "That knocked me down but not out." Beast-man ran to his master's side and tried to help him up, but Skeletor pushed him away and then zapped him with a shot from his staff. "I'm fine, fool," he snapped. " You two go find out what in the name of Horde world just happened.quickly." The two minions looked down and exited the chambers. Skeletor leaned his bony head backward and took a deep breath. "Whatever that was," he thought to himself, "it was very, very powerful."  
  
At the Royal Palace.. Prince Adam was desperately searching for his mentor, Man-At-Arms, to no avail. Adam had felt strange all day and ever since he received a disturbing, if not weak, message from the Sorceress, he thought he had better take a little back up on his trip out to Grayskull. "Duncan!" he yelled as he stepped in Man-At-Arms workshop. "He went downstairs to the generator room." A female voice said from behind him. Adam spun around to see his lifelong friend sitting on her father's desk reading some papers. "Teela, you scared the ever-loving life out of me," Adam quipped. Teela smirked back "Yeah, because THAT'S hard to do." Then she softened. "Hey, you don't look to good." Adam glared back at her. "Gee, thanks a heap." "No," she said. "I'm serious. Are you feeling okay?" Adam didn't want to let on than something was a miss. At 22-years-old, he was supposed to be at his peak health, but he felt off, and this worried him. "Yeah, I'm okay, I just need to talk to your dad," he told his friend. "Sorry I snapped at you." She smiled. "That's okay, everyone has been a little jumpy around here today." Adam went to the elevator and traveled down to the generator room where he found Man-At-Arms working intensely on something, but he couldn't see what. "Hey Duncan, what's going on around.." Adam started but was quickly cut off by his teacher. "I don't know what happened," he said cutting his pupil off. "I think there may have been an energy blast through the atmosphere, this brand new piece of eternium in the generator should last hundreds of years but it's dieing out. I needed to come down here and replace it." Adam became confused at what Duncan was telling him. Eternium was the most powerful substance on the planet, it shouldn't have been used up so quickly. "I didn't see an energy blast," he asked inquisitively. To that, Man-At- Arm's raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "I know, I didn't either, that's what makes this whole thing so strange." Adam's focus turned back to his original mission. "I need you to come to Grayskull with me, something's up." Man-At-Arms hesitated a little but then noticed how fatigued the young prince looked. "Alright, maybe we can figure out what's going on there," he said. 


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: Shock to the system.  
  
Erin opened her eyes slowly. As she tried to move, every muscle in her body seared in pain. "Oh man," she seethed. "What happ." she rolled over and saw Jerry sleeping next to her. "Jer, you okay boy?" she reached over and rubbed her pet's stomach. He started to growl but just whined a little. Slowly, Erin sat up. As her focus bean to clear up, she looked around her. For a second, she thought something had knocked her out. She didn't remember what happened. She was still in the forest...but things were different. The trees were strange, different colors, not the normal greens and yellows but blues, purples, pinks, reds, all of the colors of the rainbow. A strange rabbit-looking thing hopped up to her, but it had a lizard like tail and long sharp teeth. Erin looked at it come closer and closer, but suddenly Jerry perked up and barked at the creature. "What the hell is that?" The creature scampered off. Erin's eyes widened. She didn't say that. She looked around and saw nothing. "Who said that?" she said loudly. "Over here boss," the voice retorted. She slowly looked over to her dog, who seemed to grin at her. "What was that thing?" She stared blankly at her pet. "What, you never thought I had anything to say?" It was Jerry, her dog, talking to her. The thought was too much for her and Erin's eyes rolled up into her head as she passed out again. "Damn," Jerry snorted. "Better stay put."  
  
At Castle Grayskull. Adam and Man-At-Arms walked through the halls of Grayskull looking for the Sorceress. They had both called out her name several times, but she had not appeared. Finally they found her in the library, asleep on top of an open book. "Sorceress," Man-At-Arms said softly as her nudged her. "Sorceress, are you well? Is everything okay?" The mystical woman slowly opened her eyes and as her vision focused she saw the concerned looks on her friends' faces. She sat up and stretched a little. "Yes, now I am, but something happened...I can't explain it," she told the two men. Adam looked at Duncan perplexed. "Man-At-Arms thinks there may have been an energy blast in the atmosphere. I didn't see it but I haven't felt right all day." The Sorceress looked at the blonde young man with great care, almost motherly. "Are you okay now?" she asked. He looked down. "Yeah, it's balancing out, slowly." Balancing... The Sorceress suddenly became worried and stood up abruptly. She walked over to a huge wall of books that stood maybe 80 feet high. She softly said an incantation and a book from the very top shelf pulled out and began to float down to her. She took the book over to the table and opened it using magic to flip through the pages. "I seem to remember an old prophecy of something that would throw the balance of good and evil off on Eternia," she said to the bewildered men. "It will either bring many years of war or many years of peace. Many will either die or prosper with good, enriched lives. Something..about..a..here it is," she said. "A visitor from a place unlike one anyone else has ever known." Adam was really confused now. "Ohhhhkaaay," he said skeptically. "Like who or what." The Sorceress seemed annoyed by his connotation, but then shook it off. It wasn't like her to become so easily frazzled. "I don't know, it doesn't say. I thought the prophecy was fulfilled by your mother when she crash landed on Eternia so many years ago, but things about the prophecy didn't set right with that. What I do know is this visitor carries an intense power with them. And if they're on Eternia, you had better find them before Skeletor does." The two men nodded and turned to leave but the Sorceress stopped them. "Keep your wits about you," she warned. "We don't really know what we are dealing with." 


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: UNFAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS  
  
The forest... Evil-Lyn was getting tired of Beast-Man lagging. Tri-Clops and Clawful had stayed behind to go through some of her Mystic books to see if an answer to Skeletor's question was available in them. Suddenly Beast-Man stopped. "What is it now you stupid.."Evil-Lyn snapped angrily at him. She looked at her cohort who had his face raised into the air, sniffing. "I smell something," he growled. "Probably food," Evil-Lyn mumbled. "The only thing that smells around here is you." Beast-Man growled at her baring his teeth. "Quiet witch!" he snarled. "I smell something..unfamiliar." The great red monster took off in a gorilla-like sprint, past his confounded colleague, into the woods. "Whatever," Evil-Lyn sighed as she followed him.  
  
Erin was awakened again, this time to her furry friend licking her face. She thought she had been dreaming and expected to wake up in her bed. No such luck as she realized as she realized she wasn't at home. When she sat up, Jerry sat down. "It's about time you woke up," the dog quipped. "I was getting a little worried.and hungry." Erin just stared at her dog. She didn't move, blink, or breathe. It wasn't a dream. The dog finally spoke. "You're freaking me out a little here, Boss." Erin smiled. "You're freaked out? My dog is talking to me, I'm surrounded by strange things, and you're freaked out? Where are we? What's happened?" She stood up and brushed herself off. As she looked around, she noticed it was very bright in this place. "Toto I don't think we in Kansas anymore," she said slowly. The dog cocked his head and looked at her. "Really, what gave you that impression?" he smarted back. "And you are supposed to be higher up on the food chain." "Watch it furball," she slighted back at him. She had heard of some of the older guys having weird acid flashbacks and seeing strange things, but she had never touched a drug in her life. Not even aspirin. She also realized that she was very warm so she took her big, down coat off, unbuttoned her work shirt revealing a plain white work tank top with the forestry service's logo over her left breast, and tied he other shirt around her waist. She knelt down and grabbed her backpack, unzipped it and started rummaging through it. "Got a milkbone or something in there?" Jerry whined. Still startled by the canine's ability to talk, Erin looked up at him "No," she replied. "I left them in the jeep, which you can see is not here." The dog growled but stopped when Erin found what she was looking for. She slowly pulled a small tranquilizer hand gun out of her backpack in one hand and in the other, a handful of darts. Jerry jumped back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to growl." Erin smiled again and looked at her friend. "They're not for you," she said. "We are going to find out where we are, but we can't do it by sitting here. These." she flashed the darts, "Are for a little just in case.." "Oh," the dog snorted. "Well, then what are we sitting around here for."  
  
Also in the woods.. "Do you have any idea about what she was talking about," Adam asked his teacher. "What or who are we supposed to be looking for? Are they good are they bad? What's the deal?" Man-At-Arms ignored the young prince. Something else had his attention. He grabbed his binoculars and focused in hundreds of feet away. Then he saw them, Beast-Man and Evil-Lyn, in the forest, looking for something very intensely. "We may have some trouble ahead of us," he turned to the young prince. "You may want to change now while there is time." The prince nodded and pulled a large, gleaming sword from it's sheath on his back. Man-At-Arms stepped back as Adam held up the sword and exclaimed "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!" The light was blinding and Man-At-Arms had to look away just as a huge, muscular, god-like man appeared where the lanky prince once stood. "I HAVE THE POWER!" he yelled fiercely. The light subsided and Man-At-Arm's walked over to his friend. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that.." he chuckled. "He-Man." He-man looked at his friend. "Jeez Duncan, how many years has it been, get over it." The teacher nodded. "Come on, let's see what Beast-Man and Evil-Lyn are up to."  
  
Erin and Jerry kept walking, but were going very slowly. Erin wanted to look at everything closely and Jerry wanted to chase everything in sight that moved. "In all of my studies I have never seen anything like this stuff," Erin mused. "It's like we're on another world." "Perhaps you are." A woman's voice came from behind. Erin turned and came face-to face with Evil-Lyn. "Eternia to be exact. Where, pray tell, are you from?" Erin stepped back from the woman. Something didn't feel right. The way the woman was dressed in her strange clothing, her skin had a purple tint to it, almost as if she were glowing slightly, something about her voice. It all sent shivers up Erin's spine. "Okay, I'll play a long," she thought then said aloud. "Greetings, I am from Earth, take me to your leader." With that she held her hand up and made a "V" with middle and ring finger. "Smartass," Jerry retorted behind her. Erin smiled, but that quickly faded when she saw the expression on Evil-Lyn's face grow dark and mean. "Earth, huh?" the witch purred. "Okay, I'll take you to my leader, Skeletor! Beast-Man, take her!" The big red monster appeared out of nowhere. "What the.?"Erin said. "Werewolf!" Jerry barked. Beast-Man started to charge at her when Erin pulled her tranquilizer gun at shot a dart right into the beast's right shoulder. He dropped in a second. "Nice shot boss," Jerry growled. Evil-Lyn was not impressed. "I won't go down so easily," she sneered and sent a bolt of magic right at Erin and it knocked her on her ass. "Jerry, get out of here," she yelled to the dog. "Who do I look like, Lassie?" the dog growled as he took a protective stance in front of his master. Erin grabbed a handful of dirt on the ground and tossed it into the witch's face. "Argh!" Evil-Lyn screamed as she was temporarily blinded. "Let's get out of here!" Erin yelled to her pet as they ran off into the woods. Evil-Lyn wiped the remainder of the dust from her eyes. "You'll not get away so quickly, my dear." She looked down at the sleeping Beast-Man and kicked him, hard. "Get up you oaf, we have work to do.." 


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: The meeting  
  
Erin and Jerry sprinted through the forest over fallen branches and dead trees, streams, rocks. They didn't stop until Erin felt they were well away from danger. Both of them panting heavily, the two sat down and tried to get their bearings. "Well," Jerry panted. "That certainly sucked." Erin put her hands on her knees. "You think?" she answered the dog. She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. "I think we got away from them," she said. She opened her eyes and stood up. "Look boss," Jerry barked. "Food! There's some berries over there!" And the dog took off running toward some thick bushes. Erin took off after him. "Jerry, no, they could be poisonous!" The dog halted abruptly but Erin wasn't so quick to stop. She slid on some mud and slipped down a steep hill behind the bushes, bouncing and flipping all the way down. When she finally came to a stop, she rolled over, and with her eyes still closed, she yelled "Jerry, you okay?" The dog barked wildly, so she opened her eyes. "You look like you need a hand." The very tall, big and very handsome man said as he reached out his hand. Her mouth wide agape, she lifted her arm up to give the man her hand. Jerry came running down the hill and stopped barking once he got next to Erin. Erin looked down at the dog and then back to the man, still saying nothing. Jerry picked up on his master's silence. "Oh sure, now you stop talking." He growled. Erin snapped out of it. "Um, sorry," she said, pulling her arm back and looking down. "I must have slipped." "So I noticed," the man said smiling. "Are you alright?" Erin looked at him with a puzzled expression. "That remains to be seen," she replied. Just then, another man in his middle ages, in orange and green armor came up behind them. "What's going on?" he demanded. He-Man looked at his friend. "She fell, I as trying to help." Erin finally noticed how strangely the man was dressed. Just a silver cross of armor over his chest and a brown fur kilt-like thing that for pants. He carried a huge sword with him and that made her nervous. "Um, you're not with that one lady back there are you?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "The witch, or whatever she was." Man-At-Arm's eyebrows furrowed. "I see you've met Evil-Lyn already. No, we are most certainly not with her." The handsome man smiled again and held out his hand. "I'm He-Man, this is Man-At-Arms, but his friends call him Duncan." Erin apprehensively took his hand, hers was so small compared to his it frightened her a little. "Um, I'm Erin. That's my dog, Jerry." He-man knelt down ad stuck his hand out to pet Jerry. The rottweiler growled at first then sniffed his hand. "He's okay," the dog said to Erin. "I think we can trust him." Man-At-Arms looked concerned. "We better get back to the palace. It's getting late." Erin became apprehensive again. "Palace? What palace? Where am I? That woman said something abut Eternity or Eternal or, what was it?" she asked. "Eternia," both men said at the same time. Erin looked up. "Yeah, that's it." He-Man looked confused. "You're not from around here are you?" Erin looked at the two perplexed men. "No, I guess not. I don't know how I got here, but if this isn't some joke, then I guess I'm from a planet called Earth." Man-At-Arms quickly remembered what the Sorceress said about a visitor and the importance of that person. Putting two and two together he urged the group again. "C'mon," he said. "We need to get out of here, now." 


	6. Chapter 6

***Again I don't own any rights to the He-Man characters. This is just for fun. Sorry this chapter is kind of long.  
  
CHAPTER 6: Introductions  
  
Snake Mountain.. "Did you find anything?" Evil -Lyn prodded Tri-Clops and Clawful as she entered her study. Tri-Clops mechanical eye spun around to see the witch enter the room behind him. "I think we have," he seethed. Then he looked around. "Where's Beast- Man?" Evil-Lyn didn't flinch at the thought. "Taking a nap," she said nonchalantly. "What did you discover?" Tri-Clops held the book he was reading open to her and pointed to a section on the page. Evil-Lyn's eyes flickered with dark energy as a sadistic smile crawled across her face as she read the passage. "I must see Skeletor, NOW!" she laughed. "I believe I have already found the answer to his question, and I think I know where she is." Tri-Clops looked at Clawful and shrugged. "Let's go then." He responded to the witch.  
  
The Royal Palace. Erin had become increasingly uneasy about her surroundings. She didn't know anyone and didn't know who to trust. The fact that her dog was talking and everyone seemed to hear and understand him without a second thought was really weird, but she had a hard time believing she was on another planet. Especially since she had no idea how she got there. She sat in the Royal Garden and looked around. "If I'm losing my mind, this is a hell of a way to go," she thought to herself and put her head in her hands. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. She was dirty, bruised and tired but she didn't trust herself to sleep and most of all, she didn't trust these "people" around her. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she didn't even notice Man-At-arms and a stranger walk up behind her. "Erin, are you feeling okay?" Man-At-Arms asked gently as her put his hand on her shoulder. Erin jerked up and shrugged the gentleman's hand off. "Yeah" she replied quickly. "I'm just trying to sort.." She looked at the man at Man-At-Arm's side. "Um, hello." He said with some uneasiness. "I'm Adam, Prince of Eternia." Erin noticed how uneasy the young man seemed. "Prince" she thought to herself. "He looks about my age." There was something about him, though, that struck her. A familiarity she couldn't explain almost as if it were deja vu. She took a second to study his features, blonde hair, gray eyes, strong build. She stared until he blushed and then she caught herself. "Sorry," she apologized looking down. "But have we met..no we couldn't have. Nevermind." She realized the idea was absurd and that she sounded like a babbling fool. "We came to show you to your quarters." The prince told her. Erin jumped a little. "I'm staying.here. but I don't know you..how do I know it's safe?" The two men picked up on her anxiety easily and looked at each other for a solution to the problem. Finally Adam broke the silence. "Duncan said you were from Earth," he asked. "Is that correct?" Erin didn't speak, only nodded yes. Her dark brown hair covering her face slightly as her head moved. The prince continued, "My mother, the Queen, is also from Earth and has been told of your arrival. She's anxious to meet you." Erin hesitated. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" she questioned. "No offense but I'm kind of in a difficult situation here." As the men were about to reply, a green and yellow flash, followed by Jerry came bounding around the corner of the garden. The flash, which turned about to be a tiger-like animal, jumped into Adam's arms and knocked him to the ground. Erin was astounded at the size of the animal. It was twice the size of Jerry yet scared to death of him.. "Cringer, get off of me please," Adam scolded his pet. The great cat was shaking like a leaf. "I don't wanna," he retorted to his master. "The monster is..gonna."gulp" eat me!" Jerry cocked his head to one side. "Gee that was fun," he panted and looked up at Erin. "Can I go again?" Erin, now somewhat accustomed to her pet's new-found vocal abilities, rolled her eyes at the rottweiler. "I think he's had enough, don't you?" Jerry sat down and pouted. He looked at the crumpled cat and his master on the ground and chuckled to himself. The man's scent was familiar to him, but after the busy day, he wasn't sure exactly how. Erin noticed the look on her dog's face. "What do you say Jerry, can we trust them?" she asked her pet as she knelt down next to him. "Only one way to find out," the dog replied. The rottweiler stood and slowly walked over to the Prince, who suddenly looked uneasy and looked up at his friend Duncan. As he got closer, Cringer cowered on his master, thus keeping him pinned to the ground. Before Man-At-arms could stop the dog, Jerry took a long sniff of the Prince's hand. Jerry instantly made the connection to the man they had met in the woods. "Hey," the dog said sounding startled. "You're." He stopped himself when he saw the pleading look in the Prince's eyes. He wasn't sure why, but the big dog knew he needed to stop talking, as if some force were telling him to keep quiet. "You're..okay," he finished, unsure of what just happened. He turned to Erin. "It's fine, we can trust them." Erin eased up a little, but was still apprehensive. "Okay," she said to the prince who was slowly picking himself off of the ground. "Let's go see my quarters." With that the group headed back to the palace.  
  
Snake Mountain.. Evil-Lyn knew what she had learned would be very well received. She handed the book to Skeletor and smiled as he looked up at her. "A visitor, huh?" he questioned. "Is he here already?" Evil-Lyn laughed. "It's not a he, it's a she." With that she explained her encounter with the Earth woman in the woods and how she eluded the witch and the ogre. "I see," Skeletor seethed as Beast-Man entered the room groggily. "And you let her get away!" With that, Skeletor shot a bolt of energy from his havoc staff that hit Beast-Man in the chest and sent him flying a good 50 feet. Evil-Lyn's eyebrows raised a little but nonetheless, she smiled curtly. "I saw her heading toward the palace with Man-At-Arms and that cursed He- Man," Evil-Lyn explained to her frustrated master. "The timing wasn't right, but it will be." Skeletor stood inches away from her face. "Is that so?" he asked. "Don't worry," the witch cooed sensing Skeletor's impatience. "I read her mind. I sensed a great amount of fear and distrust in her. Plus, whatever great power she has, she does not know what it is or how to use it. We can use that to our advantage." Skeletor sat back down and stroked the huge purple cat, Panthor, sitting next to him. "Well, get to work then," he demanded. "I want this power for myself. Get this Earth woman here, soon."  
  
Meanwhile, back at the palace.. Erin had been escorted to a guest room and she sat down on the big, regal looking bed with red velvet blankets and big purple pillows. She ran her hand over then side of the edge of it and thought about her boring, simple twin bed at home. Home. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She knew that Bill would send out a search party, but that was all. They would assume an animal had attacked her, or the UFO freaks would tell tabloids that aliens abducted her. In a week that search party would become a recovery mission looking for her body. But they would find nothing and eventually give up. She sighed. She had no family, very few friends other than Jerry, and no one that would even care if she were gone. The thought still brought tears to her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly. "What does it matter?" she thought. "No one cares anyway." Next to her, Jerry whined. "I do, boss." She lay backwards and placed one arm over her eyes and the other over her dog. She gave into her fatigue and started to drift off. It was short lived however, and her doze was broken when she heard her door open. She sat up and saw an elegant looking woman, about the age her own mother would have been had she not died years ago, enter the room. She wore a long, flowing green and white dress and a gold tiara sat elegantly atop a pile of beautiful red and gray hair perfectly. She smiled as she slowly approached the bed. Jerry looked up at her, snorted and then went back to sleep. His day had been too long. "Hello Erin," she said. "I'm Marlena, Queen Marlena. Are you feeling well enough to talk?" Erin rubbed her eyes. "Yes...Adam said you would come and see me. He said you were from Earth." The Queen sat on the bed next to her. She felt sorry for the young woman and memories from the time she crash landed on Eternia and was lost and confused came flooding back to her. She looked into the girl's blue, but red and puffy eyes. She had been there, and she knew exactly what she was going through. She told the girl about how she was an astronaut and how she crashed her ship, The Rainbow Warrior, on Eternia when it was damaged in a meteor storm in space. She told her about how King Randor rescued her and how she eventually fell in love with him and decided to stay. She also told her about Adam's and Adora's birth, the girl's kidnapping and how she was brought back by Adam years later. She told her of her life on Eternia and how she wouldn't trade it in for anything. It was a long story that spanned over a long period of time. After listening intently on what the Queen had told her, Erin looked at her sadly. "Am I going to be here a long time?" she asked. "I don't know," the Queen said as she put her arm around the girl who looked like she was about to lose it. "Man-At-Arms is working on finding out how you came to be here, but with so little information to go on, it could take some time." She saw how unhappy Erin was and hugged her tenderly. "Dear, I know what you are going through so feel free to come talk to me anytime. You can trust people here, we'll help you. I want you to stay here with us for as long as it takes," she soothed. Erin looked at the woman and smiled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. The Queen touched the woman's shoulder. "Many people here are kind, if you let them be. No one here will hurt you, I promise." For some reason, Erin believed her and nodded. She felt safe and that made her relax more than she had since she woke up on this strange planet. The Queen stood up and held her hand out to the woman. "Come now," she said. "Let's get you cleaned up and changed for dinner. I believe I should have something that will fit you nicely." Erin looked down at her dirty forestry service uniform. At that moment, a bath and some clean clothes sounded like just the thing she needed. She took Marlena's hand and thought about her own deceased mother. "Thank you," she said. "For everything." Marlena smiled. "Anything you need," she said and the two women walked out of the room.  
  
Later that night at dinner.. The Royal Dining room was a buzz with activity. Most of the Defenders were at the Palace after Man-At-Arms put them on high alert., but he didn't tell them why. Not even Teela, Captain of the Royal Guard knew what was going on and that really annoyed her. So she took it out the best way she knew how, on Adam. She found him standing in the corner talking quietly to her father and decided to interrupt them. "You missed combat practice today, again." She poked at the prince's shoulder. "I swear Adam, am I going to be your bodyguard forever, or are you going to learn how to fend for yourself?" Flustered, Adam ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry Teela, I was busy..with something else." He looked at her unforgiving scowl. "Yeah, right. Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "I would like to know what's more important than your training?" At that moment, the Queen entered the dining room followed by a stranger that Teela was unfamiliar with. Some young woman she didn't recognize. This made her suspicious. "Who's that?" she asked Adam as the young woman kept close to the Queen. Whoever she was, she looked as if she were royalty, wearing a long, blue and silver shimmery dress that Teela was sure she saw the Queen once wear. The woman's shoulder length hair was tied back with a ribbon. Whoever, she was though, Teela saw that she was obviously worn out, she looked as though she may faint at any moment. She turned back to her friend but he was walking over to his mother and the woman. A slight pang of jealousy hit her. "Father, would you mind telling me what's going on around here?" Man-At-Arms looked at his daughter and scolded himself for not talking to her about the situation earlier. "Yes," he said. "Let's go to my workshop and talk." With that, the two exited the dining hall but no one seemed to notice. Across the room, people whispered and stared, some pointed. All of this attention made Erin nervous. She leaned over to say something to the Queen but Marlena read her mind. "Relax," she soothed. "No one will hurt you, they're just curious. It'll pass soon." Adam walked up toward the women and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Good evening mother," he said warmly. Then he turned to Erin, grabbed her hand and cupped it in his. "Good evening Erin, have you had a chance to settle in at all?" The whole déjà vu thing came back to her again and again, she still couldn't put her finger on it. One thing was for sure, he seemed more comfortable around here than he did earlier that afternoon. "Yes," she replied. She looked over at the Queen who gave her a wink and then joined her husband. "Thanks to your mother, she's a wonderful woman." Adam beamed. "Yes, she certainly is. You seem more relaxed. I was worried about you." This surprised Erin, she wasn't used to anyone being worried about her. "Well, you don't need to worry," she said looking down. "Things are a little better now." Everyone in the room started to take their seats at the table. Adam extended his left arm to Erin, and she took it, but not before she hesitated. Not out of fear, but out of proper decorum, she didn't know what to do in these type of situations. Adam walked Erin to her seat next to his mother, pulled her chair out, and pushed her in after she was seated. The Queen smiled slyly at her son and he took his own seat across from the girl. Adam caught his mother's smile and blushed. Erin was too tired to blush but she did feel a little fuzzy inside. She didn't know how to respond to such treatment. "So, is anyone here going to introduce us to our lovely guest?" Adam and Erin looked down the table. The question came from Stratos, leader of the people of Avion. Erin felt very exposed as all eyes fell upon her and she looked down self-consciously. Adam noticed her uneasiness and spoke up for her. "Um, this is Erin, she's a visitor-uh-friend, from Earth." Everyone at the table raised their eyebrows except for Adam, the Queen and King. "Earth?" Now it was Ram-Man's turn. "How did she get here?" This time Marlena cut in. "Let's not be rude to our guest now," she politely scolded. "She is my guest and I know she will be treated with kindness and respect." Erin looked up as the Queen reached over and squeezed her hand. "Now, where's Orko. I could use some entertainment." "At you service you majesty!" Orko appeared out of nowhere and caught Erin off guard. She still wasn't used to all the different types of creatures and people on this planet so when the Trollan floated over the table towards her, all the color drained from her face. She looked at Adam who was looking back at her with concerni n his eyes. "It's OK" he mouthed the words to her. Everyone's attention was so focused on Marlena's guest and Orko's bad magic that no one noticed one of Tri-Clop's doom-seekers hovering outside the window. 


	7. Chapter 7

*****Again, this is for fun, He-Man and the MoTU characters do not belong to me.  
  
CHAPTER 7: Discoveries  
  
Snake Mountain.  
  
Skeletor and his minions were gathered in his dark chamber intently watching a projection from Tri-Clops' doomseeker that was spying around the Royal Palace.  
  
Evil-Lyn unfolded her arms and pointed to the image of Erin, who was being escorted away from the table by Prince Adam.  
  
"That's her Skeletor," she seethed. "That is the visitor the prophecy tells about."  
  
Skeletor rubbed his chin as he focused on the image of the woman intently. He observed her slow movements and noticed how fatigued she was. More importantly, he observed that the defenders didn't know much about her.  
  
"Is it possible those fools don't realize who they have staying with them?" he thought to himself.  
  
"We attack tonight," he ordered. "But we shall send two different squads. One to do a head on, full frontal attack on the palace to keep the defenders busy. The other squad, comprised of you, Evil-Lyn, Beast-Man, and Trap-Jaw will find a way into the palace more covertly, get that woman and bring her to me."  
  
Evil-Lyn bowed. "As you wish my liege."  
  
Back at the palace..  
  
Adam and Erin walked silently down the hall. Erin felt like she could sleep for days. Adam cleared his throat as they approached her room.  
  
"Here we go," he said shyly. "You should probably get some rest."  
  
Erin chuckled. "I don't think that would be a problem. I almost feel asleep four times during Orko's magic show."  
  
Adam laughed. Erin smiled and thought to herself that the prince had a great laugh.  
  
When the laughter slowed, the two just looked at each other then blushed and looked to the ground. Erin felt like a 13-year-old girl at her first school dance. "Well, I'm gonna get some rest," she said and turned to the door.  
  
Adam shuffled his feet. "Yeah, I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Just then Teela came down the hall. She was walking fast, right toward to the two, and she looked like she was on a mission.  
  
"Erin, is it?" she commanded in her most authoritative tone. "I'm Teela, Captain of the Royal Guard. My father, Man-At-Arms, needs to see you in his workshop right away. I need you to come with me."  
  
Erin was too tired to argue and she looked at Adam and smiled.  
  
"So much for sleep," she sighed and looked at Teela. "Okay, lead the way. It's not like I don't have anything else to do."  
  
Adam shot Teela a sheepish look and followed behind the two.  
  
As the group entered the workshop, Adam saw that Man-At-Arms had hooked up his memory projector, the one the Queen had used to remember things about Earth and her past on Eternia. He glanced over to Erin who was looking all over the room, as if taking in everything she saw. He couldn't begin to imagine what all this was like for her. As Man-At-Arms explained what the Memory Projector would do, Erin just looked down and nodded her head. Adam wondered if she was too tired for this, but like his teacher, he knew this could be the only way to finding out what brought her to Eternia.  
  
"This isn't going to fry my brain is it?" Erin asked Man-At-arms. His eyebrows raised and he chuckled a little. "No, you'll be fine." Adam hoped he was right and gave a worried glance to Teela, whose sourpuss facial expression hadn't changed since she had brought them there.  
  
Erin sat down and Man-At-Arms placed the headpiece on her. She took a deep breath as he pushed a few buttons. Teela dimmed the lights and Erin was suddenly reminded of the movie theaters back home.  
  
"What, no popcorn for the show?" she asked amused with herself. There was silence in the room. "Tough crowd," she thought. She was beginning to feel more like herself and this made her more comfortable.  
  
Then the movie began. The picture appeared in thin air. It showed Erin driving the Jeep through the trees of the Black Hills. The beautiful Midwest sunset, and a mist starting to develop over the clearing.  
  
"They've got to be kidding me," Erin saw herself say. Erin chuckled a little. Bill and the boys would never believe this if she explained it to them. She wondered how she would ever explain her disappearance to her boss.  
  
The group watched on as the projection showed Erin looking around the clearing. "Well, I think we've spent sufficient time out here on this wild goose.."  
  
Just as her image stopped talking, Man-At-Arms saw what she was looking at and twitched. "A portal," he breathed.  
  
Erin was just as confused as before. The group continued to watch the projection as Erin's image approached the blue light, as Jerry ran into it and as he turned around and pulled her in.  
  
Man-At-Arm's stopped the machine. "It was a portal, a dimensional gate," he said. "But, none like I've ever seen."  
  
Teela folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall.  
  
"Okay, so it's a portal, we've seen them before, and they're easy enough to reopen. We just have to go to the Sorceress and."  
  
Man-At-Arms cut her off.  
  
"This one is different." All eyes were fixed upon him. He brought up a still picture of the portal from Erin's memory. "Most gates are a yellow, red, or orange color, based on the amount of energy they are made of. While they seem normal for mortals to use, those are very powerful. This one is blue, bright blue, meaning the amount of energy within it is beyond.."  
  
He paused and stared at Erin.  
  
Adam's concern increased. "Beyond what, Duncan?"  
  
His stare broke. "Beyond that of which any mortal could pass through. It's the type of portal that only the messengers of the elders could use..because they were immortal. No one, not even the Sorceress, can open them. Its appearance on Earth is a complete mystery."  
  
Erin was out of her chair, her eyes wild and her hands shaking.  
  
"What the HELL does that mean? I'M SOME TYPE OF GOD BUT I CAN'T GET HOME?!? THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!!!" she yelled.  
  
Teela took a defensive stance, she didn't like how this new girl was reacting. Adam put his hand on his friend's shoulder to keep her from jumping on Erin and wrestling her to the ground. Secretly, he knew a little of what Erin was going though and remembered back to the day he was told about his destiny.  
  
Man-At-Arms put his hands up to calm the upset woman. "I don't know, but the messengers of the elders weren't gods, but they were endowed with certain, very intense powers, so intense that they could never be killed by any mortal hands. When the elders disappeared from Eternia decades ago, many of their messengers were scattered throughout the universe so that the forces of evil could never obtain the power they had. If they did, it would mean certain destruction for anyone or thing that got in their way."  
  
He turned his back to the group. "If you were able to travel through that portal, than you must have the blood of a messenger coursing through your veins and your heart."  
  
Erin sat back down in disbelief. The whole scenario was ridiculous. Her mother died of cancer years ago, so she was very mortal, otherwise she would still be alive. Her father left when she was very young so it couldn't have been...  
  
Or could it have? Her head was swimming. She tried to stand up but fell into a dead faint onto the floor.  
  
Man-At-Arms picked her up. "She's had too much for one day," he said carrying her out of the room. "She needs to rest. Tomorrow we go to the Sorceress to find out where to go from here."  
  
Adam opened the door to Erin's room. Jerry, who had been sleeping on the bed sat up and whined when she saw Erin's limp body being placed on the bed. Man-At-Arms scratched his head.  
  
"It's okay big fella," he soothed. "She's just sleeping."  
  
Jerry nuzzled his head under Erin's hand and snorted. "This is too much," he grunted. 


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: THE ATTACK  
  
Midnight at the Royal Palace.  
  
Adam stood in his bedroom staring out of the window replaying the events of the day in his head. He felt such compassion for Erin wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. He also wanted to know why Teela was so edgy around her. If she was jealous, she had no reason to be. Nothing would ever come between their friendship and while at times he wanted more than that from her, he knew it would never be possible because she had a great destiny ahead of her at Grayskull. The Sorceress told him years ago, that as much as it pained him, he could not get in the way of that, there was too much riding on her future.  
  
And then there was this stranger, Erin. He didn't know what to do with the weird feelings he had around her. He wasn't used to them, and he didn't know what lay in store for her. Hopefully the Sorceress would shed some light to this predicament in the morning. Until then, he wondered how to get her smile and the sound of her laugh out of his head. He wished they would've had more time to talk before the incident in the workshop. She made him laugh, and more than that, she made him feel like himself, a feeling he hadn't had in years, not since he became He-Man anyway.  
  
He was certain of one thing, he dreaded the day she would go back to Earth and hoped it wouldn't be too soon.  
  
He sighed and opened the window. Cringer snored lightly on the floor by his bed. He decided to get some sleep. The palace was silent.  
  
But not for long.  
  
The first blast hit the courtyard and sent guards flying. The sound of the blast was so deafening that Erin sat straight up and screamed. Jerry was barking rabidly. Erin ran to the window and saw two more explosions. The fires lit up the sky around the courtyards.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" Jerry barked.  
  
Erin had had enough of being scared about what was going on around here. She ripped the Queen's dress off and grabbed some training clothes that the Queen had given here. She buttoned the green slacks, pulled the orange tank top over her head, and tied her hiking boots. Her hair flew wildly around her face and she flung open the door to the hallway where all kinds of chaos was taking place.  
  
"Let's find Adam," she yelled at Jerry. "We need to help if we can."  
  
The dog barked and ran out of the room. Erin followed him to a room down the hall. It was so noisy that she could hear Adam yelling on the other side of the locked door, but couldn't hear what.  
  
"I've got to help him," she yelled looking for anyone in the hall to help her with the door. The lights were flickering on and off and there was a lot of noise but no one in sight. She jumped back and with all that she had, she ran right at the door like a linebacker.  
  
She crashed through to a room full of light, it was almost blinding, but she could see Adam's back. She reached out to him as the light consumed him. She squinted as she put her arm up.  
  
"I HAVE THE POWER!!!" Adam yelled and light started to fade.  
  
But it wasn't Adam. Erin's jaw dropped. It was the man who had helped her earlier in the woods.  
  
He-Man.  
  
He spun around and gasped when he saw the crumpled woman on the floor staring at him.  
  
"Adam," she gasped softly and smiled. "Wow."  
  
He-Man grabbed her hand and helped her up. He looked worried, really worried.  
  
"I'll explain it later," he said in a shushed voice. "But around everyone else, call me He-Man, no one else knows. Can I trust you?"  
  
Erin was still in awe and just nodded.  
  
"Okay, let's go," he pulled her out of the room into the hallway. "We've got to get you to safety."  
  
Erin yanked her arm back.  
  
"Not a chance, I want to help," she yelled defiantly.  
  
He-Man knew there was no changing her mind and there was no time to try to change it. "Fine," he yelled back. "But stay close, I.we can't risk losing you."  
  
Erin blushed but ran behind the huge warrior down the hall and out into the courtyard.  
  
Guards were everywhere fighting off Skeletor's robots. Teela was a hundred feet away giving Whiplash a run for his money. Man-At-Arms was in a fierce fight with Tri-Clops. Stratos was in the air chasing Merman in the Collector.  
  
Without thinking about it, He-Man went running into the middle of the battle. Erin started to follow but was cornered by Panthor.  
  
The purple beast inched closer and closer, saliva dripping off of his yellow teeth. Erin reached from her tranqualizer gun but then realized she had left it in her room.  
  
The cat jumped, but was knocked to the side by a dark flash. Jerry stood in front of Erin growling fiercely. He and Panthor circled each other for a second then jumped into a full fledged fight.  
  
"Jerry, no!" Erin cried as she grabbed stun gun from a broken robot nearby. She aimed at the fight but couldn't get a clear shot of the beast that was attacking her best friend.  
  
"Jerry, back!" she yelled and the dog bolted the other way. She fired the gun and Panthor let out a great roar before falling to the ground, out cold.  
  
"What were you waiting for?" Jerry barked as he trotted up to Erin.  
  
She looked around. He-man had just given Whiplash the beating of a lifetime and he and Teela were running to help Man-At-Arms. Erin smiled slyly to herself as she headed towards the fight herself.  
  
"Uh, oh," Jerry snapped. "Someone's got it bad."  
  
Erin shot him a nasty look. "I do not, I was just having a little fun. Is that so.."  
  
A scream came from above. Erin stopped and turned around.  
  
On the second floor balcony of the palace, Beast-Man had a knife to Queen Marlena's throat. She struggled in the arms of the huge creature, but looked like she was in great pain.  
  
Next to him, Evil-Lyn and Trap Jaw were firing their weapons at guards trying to stop them.  
  
"NO!!!!!!" both He-Man and Erin yelled at the same time.  
  
Evil-Lyn looked down and chuckled. She knew there was know way she would get the stranger to leave the palace on her own and she had too much power to be controlled. This was the only way, and she was having so much fun with it.  
  
"It works this way, we're taking the Queen," she hissed. "The stranger will turn herself over to Skeletor with no interference from He-Man or the Defenders or else Panthor will get to feast on the Queen's internal organs for dinner. You have 24 hours."  
  
With that the four on the balcony disappeared in a flash of light, as did Panthor, Whiplash, Tri-Clops and Mer-Man.  
  
Erin looked helplessly at He-Man, Man-At-Arms and Teela.  
  
"This is all my fault," she said as the others approached her. "If I had never come here, this wouldn't be happening."  
  
"Well, if you say so," Teela snottily replied. The Man-At-Arms nudged her. She recanted. "I'm sorry, this isn't your fault, Skeletor has tried this type of stunt before."  
  
Man-At-Arms jumped in.  
  
"Yes, but the stakes are much higher this time," he reasoned. "We can't turn Erin over to Skeletor. To do so would be catastrophic,"  
  
"But if we don't, the Queen dies," Stratos concluded.  
  
He-Man was distraught, and Erin knew why.  
  
"I can't let Marlena.the queen.suffer in my place," Erin told the group. "I won't let anything happen to her. I have to go. Can someone tell me how I can get there?"  
  
Now it was He-Man's turn.  
  
"I can't let that happen," he growled sounding a little like Jerry as he grabbed her arm. "Skeletor would torture you to the point that you would beg for death. Then he will use your power to destroy us all."  
  
Erin was kind of disappointed that his reasoning wasn't more personal, but in a way, she was glad for it. She pulled away from his grip and for the first time, looked the heroic warrior right in the eyes.  
  
"I don't even know how to use this so called power," she replied coolly. "Besides, according to Man-At-Arms, this Skeletor-guy can't hurt me, only someone immortal can. It would seem to me that if he were immortal, he wouldn't be having his underlings do the dirty work. He would just come and take care of business himself."  
  
She started to walk towards the forest. "So someone can either tell me where I'm going, or I could waste precious time getting lost."  
  
Man-At-Arms stopped her. "Wait," he said. "Let's go to Grayskull and consult the Sorceress first. We need to know a little more about what we are dealing with."  
  
Erin started to protest but saw the same pleading look on He-Man's face that she had seen on Adam's face when Jerry sniffed his hand in the garden.  
  
"Fine, give me ten minutes to gather some things and we'll go," Erin caved.  
  
She turned and walked past some debris back into the palace. Jerry trotted behind her. 


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: CONFRONTATION AT THE PALACE  
  
"You shouldn't have lied back there," Jerry grunted as he trotted behind his master. "I know that you're leaving without them."  
  
Erin didn't look at the dog. "I don't have a choice. I can't let her die for me. I can't let her die, period."  
  
She entered her room and started gathering some things. This time she didn't forget her tranq gun and put it and the darts in her backpack.  
  
In a poof of air and magic, Orko appeared and nosed around Erin's room.  
  
"Watchya doing?" he asked. "You're not leaving are you?"  
  
Erin looked at the floating elf. She didn't know what he was, but she liked him.  
  
"I'm going to get the Queen back, Orko," she forced a smile. "She's in great danger."  
  
"As you will be if you're about to do what I think you're going to do," a voice boomed behind her.  
  
She didn't turn, she knew who it was and she knew what he was going to say. She just kept packing her things. She didn't want to hear it, but she was going to.  
  
"Orko, leave," He-Man said as he shut the door. The magician shrugged and disappeared in a "poof."  
  
He walked over to her. "You can't go there by yourself," he said in a demanding tone that Erin didn't like. "You have NO idea what you are dealing with. You can't help my mother if Skeletor has found some way to destroy you, which he may have. You can't.."  
  
Now, she was mad and flipped around, her face was red and she shook with anger.  
  
"I haven't been able to do anything for myself since I arrived on this God forsaken planet!" she cried. "And I'm sick of it. I can't just stand by and let this happen, I DON'T CARE IF I DIE BUT I WON'T LET THEM KILL HER!!!! I CAN'T LOSE ANOTHER MOTHER!!!!!"  
  
He-Man moved closer to console her but she wouldn't have it and she pushed back on the warrior's chest.  
  
"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU!" she continued her rant. "WHEN MY MOTHER DIED I COULDN'T DO A THING TO STOP IT! I WATCHED AND WAITED THROUGH THE MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCE OF HER LIFE UNTIL IT WAS OVER, THEN IT BECAME THE MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!! SHE LEFT ME ALL ALONE!!!!!"  
  
She stopped hitting him and fell into his arms sobbing. He helped her to the ground and just held her while she let it all out.  
  
"I know.Marlena's not my mother," she cried. "But she cared when I thought no one else did. She was the first person I felt I could trust since my mom died."  
  
He-Man hugged her and stroked her hair. She calmed herself a little and pulled back far enough to look him in the eyes again.  
  
"Adam, if there's a chance I can stop this, if I can do something..anything to save her life, I HAVE TO," she begged. "Do you understand?"  
  
He pressed his forehead against hers and nodded. Then he put his hand under her chin and lifted her face. Her blue eyes locked on his gray eyes and a connection clicked.  
  
"I understand," he said gently. "But you need to understand, that I can't let them destroy YOU. I won't lose you or her. Mother is not the only one who cares about you. Trust this,"  
  
Erin stared at his face.  
  
"I care.."  
  
His face inched closer to hers  
  
"..so much."  
  
closer still  
  
"it hurts."  
  
He cupped her face as his lips grazed hers. At first she sat there in disbelief, but it didn't take long for her to reciprocate and she kissed him back, on the lips, on the eyelids, on the cheeks. He held her tighter, almost to the point where she couldn't breathe. What started out as a gentle, soft kiss soon became fierce and wanton as they consumed the power in each other.  
  
After several minutes, the kiss broke. Breathless, they both just looked at each other.  
  
He-Man broke the silence and smiled.  
  
"So, that's how Earth girls kiss?" 


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: Confrontation at Castle Grayskull  
  
Outside the Royal Palace...  
  
The Defenders, Man-At-Arms and Teela all waited in the courtyard with sky sleds, wind raiders and the attack trak.  
  
"Is she going to make an appearance for this or what?" Teela snapped impatiently. "It has been WAY more than 10 minutes."  
  
Man-At-Arms shook his head.  
  
"Patience is a virtue, daughter," he chided her.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she breathed.  
  
Soon He-Man appeared from the palace entrance followed by Battle-Cat, Jerry and Erin.  
  
"Okay, we go to Grayskull," Man-At-Arms said waving his arm.  
  
Teela's face burned with envy as she watched He-Man help Erin and Jerry into the attack trak. As she mounted a sky sled, she leaned over to her muscular friend.  
  
"You have lipstick on your cheek," She whispered.  
  
He-Man blushed violently. "Um, thanks," he said wiping his face.  
  
Erin heard the exchange and smiled remembering how the lipstick got there in the first place. As the attack trak started moving, she looked out the window to He-Man riding on Battle Cat's back. He met her gaze and gave her a quick wink.  
  
Jerry saw the action going on between the two.  
  
"If you don't stop, I swear I'm going to cough up a hairball the size of your head," he whined.  
  
Erin turned in her seat, and exhaled deeply. She tried to grasp what was going on around her, and her thoughts soon went back to Marlena and this trip to some castle.  
  
"What's next?" she asked herself.  
  
At Snake Mountain..  
  
Beast-Man sat outside the dank prison cell that Queen Marlena had been placed in deep in the hollows of Snake Mountain. He was hungry and his rear end hurt.  
  
He stood up and looked into the cell where Marlena sat with her head in her hands. He growled a little when she looked up and gave him an icy glare.  
  
"What are you looking at, fuzz face," the Queen smarted and flipped him the bird.  
  
True it was conduct unbecoming of a queen but she felt if anyone deserved such treatment, it was this flea-bitten moron.  
  
Beast-Man growled. "Watch it, your highness, that clock is ticking awfully fast and Panthor is looking awfully hungry."  
  
He turned and sat back down. He couldn't wait to torture her, and he started thinking of ways to make her scream.  
  
Upstairs, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn plotted their next move.  
  
"So, if this visitor can only be killed by an immortal, how I am supposed to destroy her, Evil-Lyn?" Skeletor seethed as he paced behind his throne.  
  
Evil-Lyn waved her staff and a book appeared in front of her. She flipped through the pages.  
  
"If the legends of the messengers hold true, you can't kill her," she said.  
  
Skeletor fired a shot at her from his havoc staff, but missed.narrowly.  
  
Evil-Lyn picked up on his displeasure of her answer.  
  
"You can't kill her, but if we can find a way to control her, we can use her power to destroy Grayskull," Evil-Lyn compensated. " Inside, you can discover the secrets of the elders and find an ancient spell that will make you immortal, then nothing can stop us.I mean you."  
  
Skeletor stopped pacing. "Immortal? I like that. I could take over the whole universe, nothing could stop me, not even that muscle head He- Man...but how can we control her, you said she couldn't be controlled."  
  
Evil-Lyn frowned. "That's the hard part."  
  
Another shot was fired, again, narrowly missing her. This time, she didn't flinch.  
  
"No ordinary spell will work," she said trying to calm her master. "And she's too novice to use her powers to their full potential but, she has a great willpower. This will be a problem. But if we can break her willpower, make her give into us, I can take control of her mind and then she'll do whatever we tell her."  
  
Skeletor sat down and leaned forward.  
  
"And just how do we do that?" he prodded.  
  
Evil-Lyn stood up and raised her arms. After saying an incantation, she was surrounded by a magical burst.  
  
Skeletor started to laugh as Evil-Lyn started to explain.  
  
"I told you, I read her mind when we first met," she laughed. "I know who she trusts."  
  
She put her arms down. Instead of the dark witch's outfit and blue skin, she looked like an average middle-aged woman, in blue jeans and a checkered shirt. She flipped her gray and brown hair and smiled malevolently.  
  
"Her mother," she said in a sweet voice.  
  
At Castle Grayskull..  
  
The jawbridge dropped with a thud that made Erin jump a little. She smiled uneasily and looked over to Teela.  
  
"That's not exactly the kind of castle that were in all those fairy tales when I was a kid," she said meagerly.  
  
Teela rolled her eyes, and muttered something under her breath before she walked away.  
  
Confused, Erin looked at He-Man with a "What did I say?" look on her face. He just smiled and walked forward into the castle. The others followed.  
  
The Sorceress was waiting for them.  
  
Man-At-Arms tried to explain what had happened but the Sorceress already knew.  
  
"We have little time to waste," she commanded. "Erin, please, tell me of your parents. I need to know of your lineage."  
  
Erin looked down and tried not to choke up.  
  
"My mother died years ago, while I was still in college," she said. "She had an illness that ate away at her body but her soul was very strong."  
  
The Sorceress seemed impatient but listened intently.  
  
"I see, and what of your father?"  
  
Erin frowned. This was a subject she didn't like. She never forgave him for abandoning her and her mother. She wondered if he even knew of her mother's death.  
  
"He left, when I was eight," she started. "I don't know much about him, my mother never spoke of him and frankly I didn't care to either."  
  
The Sorceress looked at Teela for a second then back to Erin.  
  
"Go on," she urged.  
  
"I don't know where he is or where he came from," Erin continued. "I don't even remember what he looked like. Just his name."  
  
The Sorceress stood up.  
  
"What was his name child?"  
  
Erin looked down again and took a deep breath.  
  
"Thaddeus..Thaddeus Welles," she spat out.  
  
The Sorceress sat back down and hung her head low. She knew in her heart that Erin had no real idea about why her father left. She also knew what she was going to tell this girl would break her heart, maybe destroy her spirit altogether, but she didn't know how else to do it.  
  
"My child," she started. "I knew your father. He was from Eternia, he was a messenger of the elders. Despite your memory, he was a good man with a pure soul and beautiful heart."  
  
Erin's suspicions were confirmed, although not exactly how she thought they would be.  
  
"You see, when the elders left the physical world, the messengers could not go with them, so they scattered throughout the universe. But they were forbidden to interfere with the lives of the inhabitants of the worlds they were on."  
  
Erin looked at her. The mystic woman continued.  
  
"Thaddeus went to Earth, and must have he broken the rules. He must have fallen in love with your mother and they were married. And then you were born.."  
  
Erin didn't like where this was going.  
  
"However, what you father didn't realize, what none of us knew, was that the elders were connected to the messengers in more than a spiritual sense, their existence was the very life of the messengers. It was discovered when the few remaining messengers left on Eternia started to die, even though they never left. It was concluded that even though the power of the elders was still on Eternia, without the physical presence of the elders, the messengers' life forces dwindled, slowly. You father probably had no idea that he would die when he met your mother. He was incapable of cruelty, intentionally, that is."  
  
Now Erin really didn't like what she was hearing because it meant that she grew up hating a man that didn't deserve her ill feelings. She started to feel sick. Her whole had been some strange fabrication of what it really was.  
  
"When your father realized his time was limited, he most likely left to die somewhere where it would not be questioned. It was the only way to protect who he was and who you would become."  
  
Erin was blown away by the rush of emotions swimming around her. She felt all her strength draining and wondered what would happen to her now. She was lost in the story of her father, her life, and all that she ever knew being false. This made her angry.  
  
"But, if I have his blood, if I'm one of these messengers, how could I live on Earth all this time?" she asked, her eyes flashing.  
  
The Sorceress stood up and walked towards her.  
  
"Because you are also half human," she said trying to calm the agitated woman. She knew what she was about to tell Erin may drop her right at her feet.  
  
"But I believe your time on Earth was becoming limited and you were brought here by the portal, but I don't know by whom the portal was opened."  
  
Erin became more agitated. She caught on to what was being said to her.  
  
"But the elders aren't on Eternia anymore, right? Physically that is.so who's to say I won't die here?"  
  
The Sorceress looked at her and put her hand on her shoulder.  
  
"There isn't anything to say that. If the legacy of the messengers holds true, you will eventually die, here on Eternia. That's all I can tell you now."  
  
That did it. Erin stumbled backwards. Her legs felt like jelly. She looked up at the Sorceress once again.  
  
"I'm dying right now then," she asked.  
  
The Sorceress looked at her with compassion.  
  
"Yes child, I believe you are dying. Slowly. If you use your powers as a messenger, the legacy will go into full effect and the process will speed up. With all my knowledge, I don't know how to stop it."  
  
That did it, Erin fell to her knees. Jerry rushed to her side but to her surprise it was Teela that helped her up.  
  
She looked around her. Everyone looked down, no one made eye contact with her.  
  
"I need a minute alone guys," Erin asked her friends, trying to catch her breath. She started to cough so hard she couldn't speak. "Please..I have to figure something out."  
  
The Defenders all turned to leave. All except He-Man who stood leaning against the wall, looking as miserable as a person with a heart could.  
  
"We can find a way to stop this, can't we Sorceress?" he pleaded. "I mean, there has to be something we can do."  
  
The Sorceress shook her head. She looked deep into the warrior's soul and saw what had transpired. He was in love, and he was being told his love would die, soon. She felt an immense pity for him and for the woman who held his affections.  
  
"With all that I am, I wish I could do something, but only the elders have the power to do anything," she explained. "I will consult Zodac and the universal counsel to see if there is a solution. But be warned, this may not end the way you want it to. Your both must prepare yourselves."  
  
Erin nodded. She wasn't going to let it all end this way. She felt her blood begin to boil as she suddenly became aggressive. She clutched her hands tightly and looked at He-Man.  
  
"If I'm going to die anyway, then I will die trying to save your mother, I owe HER that. I owe YOU that," she blurted out before she looked at the Sorceress. "How do I use this power?"  
  
The Sorceress nodded and gave into the woman. She motioned for Erin to follow her down a long hallway.  
  
"Come," she said. "We don't have much time."  
  
"You can't do this, Erin, you could die before anything gets accomplished!" He-Man yelled at her. He wanted her to conserve her energy so they would have more time to find a way to save her from this fate she never knew existed for her.  
  
The Sorceress paused, as if unsure what to do. Giving it one last try, she looked at Erin who seemed more content than ever.  
  
"He's right," the Sorceress said but then realized there would be no changing Erin's mind. "All right, I'll teach you to use your power, but once it's unleashed, it will be a race against time, so you must hurry and make use of the time you'll have remaining."  
  
He-Man walked up to Erin's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't want to look at him. Inside, she felt her heart being ripped out. She knew if she looked at him, she would lose all the strength she had mustered up to that point and then it would all be for nothing.  
  
"How much time?" he asked the Sorceress sadly.  
  
The Sorceress looked into his heart and saw it breaking. She hated to see this happen but it was all out of her hands.  
  
"A day, maybe," she said. "24 hours at the most from the first time she unleashes her power."  
  
The two women started to walk away, the Sorceress turned around, but Erin didn't.  
  
"He-Man, I need you to wait outside with the others," she instructed.  
  
Erin felt her stomach drop.  
  
"I just need you," she thought to herself. 


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11: Coming to terms...  
  
Outside Castle Grayskull..  
  
The Defenders waited outside while Erin and the Sorceress were inside going over the extent of Erin's powers.  
  
It seemed like hours. He-MAN was so frustrated he wanted to tear the jawbridge off with his bare hands, go storming in there, grab Erin and run.far.where the reality of her fate wasn't real.  
  
He sighed and held back a tear because he knew there was no such place.  
  
This girl, that made him feel alive again, would die and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.  
  
Teela walked up to He-Man and put a hand on his back. He looked at his friend and forces a smile.  
  
"You like her don't you," she asked him.  
  
He-Man blushed. "She's a nice person. I feel sorry for her."  
  
Teela smiled. "Look, I know it's none of my business, but I think she may have a thing for Adam, they seemed pretty close after dinner. But that's not to say she couldn't like both of you, I mean, every girl has hormones."  
  
He-Man chuckled. "Yeah, I kind have picked up on that whole Adam thing."  
  
If only Teela knew, he thought. But inside, his world was turning. He had found something, someone that he wanted to hold the rest of the world back for and he would lose her so that his mother would live.  
  
It wasn't fair.  
  
The jawbridge opened and Erin walked out, but she was different. At first HE-Man didn't recognize her.  
  
She had a radiant glow about her and seemed to float more than walk. Her clothes were different too, instead of the training uniform, she now wore a tunic made of glittering material that was tied at the waist with a red scarf. She looked illuminant, breath-taking.  
  
"You guys ready to go," she asked as she approached the dumbfounded group.  
  
No one spoke, until Man-At-Arms broke the silence.  
  
"Yes, and if the Sorceress was correct, time is of the essence."  
  
Erin looked at He-Man than at the Defenders.  
  
"Let's do this," she urged. This time she didn't need the attack trak, this time she rose into the air and started to fly in the direction of Snake Mountain.  
  
Jerry looked at He-Man and grunted.  
  
"She's risking everything, what are you prepared to do for her?" he barked at the huge man.  
  
He-Man looked at the dog, and smiled confidently. He decided he wasn't about to give up and if need be, he'd fight death for her.  
  
"Whatever it takes," he responded as he jumped onto Battle Cat's back. "Let's go!"  
  
At Snake Mountain..  
  
Evil-Lyn felt dizzy. She placed her hand against the wall of Skeletor's chamber.  
  
"She's discovered her power," she told her master. "Our plan is right on track."  
  
Skeletor cackled.  
  
"Excellent, prepare for the attack!" he commanded his minions. "You better change Evil-Lyn. I'm sure our new friend will want to see her mommy!"  
  
He laughed hysterically. "And as soon as she does, I will use her power to destroy Grayskull!"  
  
Downstairs in Marlena's cell..  
  
The Queen paced back and forth. She couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was going to happen, but she just couldn't tell what.  
  
"Hey flea-bag!" she yelled to the monsterous guard outside her door. "What's going on up there?"  
  
Beast-Man started to laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know?"  
  
The Queen wanted answers so she continued to press her captor.  
  
"I'm going to die anyway, right, so enlighten me to the greatness that is Skeletor, what's he got planned?" she prodded. "C'mon, doesn't the condemned get a last wish?"  
  
Beast-Man snorted, he didn't see the harm in it. In a few hours he would be playing tug-o-war with her intestines anyway. Who would she tell at then?  
  
"It's perfect," he started. "You're new friend is the source of great power and she doesn't even know how to use it. Skeletor is going to use that power to break into Snake Mountain and become immortal. Then it's lights out for everyone, including He-Man."  
  
Beast-Man was feeling pretty proud of himself. In his arrogance, he didn't see the Queen hide in the shadows of the cell.  
  
"Is that so," she said. "Well, I must be going now. See ya fangs!"  
  
She wondered if Beast-Man was stupid enough to fall for this trick. "What?" he yelled as he turned around and looked into her cell. He looked down and saw a pile of dirt on the ground.  
  
"She dug a hole!" he yelled as he grabbed the keys to unlock the door. "She didn't get far I can still smell her.."  
  
Beast-Man entered the cell and ran to the hole. As he did, the Queen, holding a huge rock, smacked him on the back of the head. The ogre crumpled onto the floor. She reached down and grabbed the keys.  
  
"He was that stupid," she said to herself as she carefully looked out the door.  
  
The coast was clear, and the Queen started down the hallway.  
  
"I've got to warn the others.." The thought raced through her head over and over. "I can't let Skeletor hurt them..."  
  
Outside Snake Mountain hours later...  
  
Erin landed at the base of the dark mountain. She was ahead of the others, so she had to wait.  
  
She hated waiting.  
  
She was beginning to feel a little faint. The Sorceress told her to expect that. She looked at the timer the Sorceress gave her. Twenty hours left, and that was only if she didn't use too much power at once. If she did, it was all over.  
  
She tried not to tear up. She kept thinking about Adam, Jerry, Marlena, and all of her new friends. She wished she had more time to explore this new place. She wished she could have more time to find out about her father.  
  
She wished she had more time with Adam.  
  
Couldn't think about that now, she thought and scolded herself for getting distracted.  
  
She also knew her ability to fly was fading along with her life, and from that moment on, she would have to make use of her other powers, even though she was still unsure of what they were.  
  
Crashing sounds came from behind her as He-Man and the Defenders caught up.  
  
"Some flowers, a little paint, this place wouldn't be so bad," she joked with the others. He-Man forced a smile and Erin knew he wasn't doing to well with everything that was happening.  
  
This time, she winked at him and then looked at Man-At-Arms.  
  
"What's the plan, Duncan?" she asked.  
  
Man-At-Arms sighed and looked around. He was certain this was a trap.  
  
"Everyone needs to keep their wits about them," he urged. "This is most certainly a trap and I don't like the idea of walking right into it."  
  
He turned to Teela, and Stratos.  
  
"You two enter through the hidden entrance that our spies discovered here," he said as he pointed from a map projected by the Wind Raider. "From there, you'll travel to the prison cells where the Queen is being held. If she's not there, lay low and wait for my instructions. If they don't come, that means I've been captured or killed. Get out of here and get back to the castle to rally our army."  
  
The two warriors nodded and headed off in the direction Man-At-Arms had told them.  
  
"Ram-Man, Buzz-Off, Mekaneck, you three will head off any attack from out here. Make sure there's no ambush waiting for us out here once we've got the Queen and are safely out."  
  
The three nodded and walked away if separate directions.  
  
The Man-At-Arms looked at He-Man and Erin. He-Man had told Duncan that Erin had discovered his secret identity earlier outside of Grayskull.  
  
The older man looked at the two with sadness in his eyes. "You two know what needs to be done," he said.  
  
He-Man put his arm around Erin's shoulder and looked at his friend. "Duncan, can you give us a minute?"  
  
Man-At-Arms nodded and walked a few feet away.  
  
He-Man turned and faced Erin. He looked into her sad eyes and nodded as if he were reading her mind.  
  
"I'm scared too," he soothed her. "We could try something else, you know, the Sorceress is trying to find another way as we speak, maybe..."  
  
Erin placed a finger on his mouth. He took her hand, kissed it and held it against his face.  
  
"There isn't another way," she said. "It has to be like this. What's left of my life has to count for something."  
  
She smiled as she squeezed his hand.  
  
"There's a truth in love," she said wisely. "I have the truth about my father, and I feel as if he's loved me all this time. What's more, I found that I was always able to love him, I just never let myself."  
  
A tear rolled down her cheek and sparkled as it touched her lips.  
  
"Then I realized love, like truth, will set you free, and I feel like I could fly to heaven right now.." She knew that physically she couldn't though, as she felt the life draining from her a little more with every word.  
  
He-Man pulled her into a tight embrace, tighter than the one they shared at the palace. He didn't want to let her go. Warrior or not, hot tears streamed down his face too.  
  
Unable to get past the moment, the two kissed for what they both knew would probably be the last time. They stood there, tasting the salted tears on each other lips and just held on for what seemed like ages and no time all at once.  
  
If there were any other people on Eternia, or in the Universe for that matter, at that moment, they wouldn't have known it.  
  
Finally the broke, and He-Man brushed a strand of hair off of her face as he gazed into her eyes.  
  
In the distance, Man-At-Arms didn't want to interrupt them, but he had no choice. Jerry stood at his side and whimpered a little.  
  
"This isn't fair," he snorted. "This is the first time I have ever seen her this happy."  
  
Man-At-Arms looked at the rottweiler and shook his head.  
  
"I could say the same for Adam," he replied sadly remembering how devastated the young man was when he learned that no matter what he felt for Teela, it could never-ever be.  
  
It had been along time since he had seen his pupil look at someone that way and Man-At-Arms wondered if the loss of her would be to great for the young warrior to bear.  
  
The time broke into his thoughts and he approached the two as they parted from each other's arms.  
  
"Okay, let's get to work," Man-At-Arms said abruptly. "Erin my dear, it has been a pleasure..."  
  
Skeletor's chamber..  
  
Skeletor sat in his throne waiting. He knew she was coming, he felt it in every bone he had. Which meant his face was starting to hurt a lot.  
  
He knew Evil-Lyn was in position and ready, he knew Tri-Clops was also in position and ready.  
  
Most of all, he knew Trap-Jaw was in position with his special surprise for the group.  
  
"One they won't soon forget," he chuckled to himself. 


	12. Chapter 12

****Disclaimer in Chapter 1.  
  
CHAPTER 12: SHOWDOWN  
  
The halls of the Universal Counsel:  
  
The Sorceress exited the portal that led into the chamber where the Universal Counsel met. Before she left, she sent a message to Zodac asking him to meet with her.  
  
She looked around the vast meeting place. Statues of the great warriors of the past towered down the golden hallways that seemed to go on forever. Many important decisions were made here. It was impossible for the inhabitants of the universe to know how many. Many didn't even know the counsel existed.  
  
Within each of the counsel members lay a part of the knowledge of the universe. They were neither good nor evil.they remained neutral in everything except the concept of existence.  
  
Because of that, they had each made a solemn vow never to get involved with the destinies of the universes' inhabitants. They merely watched and acted when absolutely necessary.  
  
The Sorceress knew that, and she also knew that the solution she was looking for, how to save Erin's life, might not be available to her.  
  
Zodac finally appeared through the mystical doors and approached the Sorceress. The titan looked upon the mystic woman and smiled. They were old friends, and he would help her in any situation if it were within his power. This time, however, he wasn't sure he would be able to do that.  
  
"I know why you're here," he said. "I know what information you are seeking. But you know I cannot interfere with what is destined. Neither can the counsel."  
  
She nodded but decided she was going to make her an effort with every fiber of her being.  
  
"I know great Zodac," she began. "But please, hear my plea before you make your decision."  
  
Although Zodac wasn't a warrior, he certainly had the intimidating presence of one. Being at least ten feet tall, he towered over the Sorceress while he was standing. Pulling back his long, red robe, he sat in a huge throne- like chair and folded his arms.  
  
"Okay, Sorceress," he responded. "Tell me what you would like me to do. I shall not make any promises except that I will listen with my full attention."  
  
The Sorceress took a deep breath. She knew this was the moment of truth. If this didn't work, nothing, short of a miracle would.  
  
"I do not come here for myself, I come on behalf of Eternia's greatest defender.."  
  
Later, back at Snake Mountain..  
  
Man-At-Arms and He-Man had climbed halfway up the dark, jagged mountain. Along the way, Teela contacted Man-At-Arms to tell him she and Stratos could not locate the Queen in the prison cells and that they would wait further command.  
  
This bothered Man-At-Arms because this meant the Queen could be anywhere in the mountain, if she was not already dead. He kept that thought to himself however and hoped he was wrong.  
  
"Our spies have told us there should be some kind of elevation device that leads to the mouth," Man-At-Arms explained as he looked up. "We can take that, but it could be a trap, I'm sure Skeletor's expecting us. If we get caught, we endanger our friends and the Queen."  
  
It had taken them a long time to get that far, too long, and the time bothered him. He hoped He-Man would be able to keep his focus on the task at hand, but he knew the man like he was his own son, and he knew exactly what he was thinking about.  
  
"We can't waste anymore time," the warrior demanded. "We have to take that chance."  
  
Man-At-Arms nodded and looked for the fulcrum device to open the hidden door. Using the scanner built into his wrist communicator, he scanned the side of the mountain, and found what he was looking for under a rock, a few feet away from them.  
  
He pulled back on the rock and the door to an elevator opened. The two men entered.  
  
"How do we make it go up?" He-Man asked his mentor.  
  
Before Man-At-Arms could say anything, the doors shut and the box began to travel upward, fast. Before they realized it, the doors flew open and some kind of force pushed them out into Skeletor's chamber.  
  
Anxiously, they looked around the seemingly empty room. Man-At-Arms stood up defensively, wide-eyed and reached for his stun laser.  
  
"HHHEEEELLLPPP!"  
  
The woman's scream made them both jump. They looked around to see where it came from. The silence was soon broken by Skeletor's maniacal cackle.  
  
"Up here you fools!" he laughed. "And I have company with me!"  
  
He-Man and Man-At-Arms turned and walked towards the open mouth of the snake's head. As they looked out onto the vast horizon a shoe dropped from above and fell, straight down hundreds of feet.  
  
He-Man turned his head upward and saw his arch nemesis and his minion Trap- Jaw, holding his mother by the throat, over the edge of the mountain.  
  
The Queen's eyes were filled with terror. She had been so close to getting out when Trap-jaw had caught her. She knew her son's secret and he had rescued her from capture before, but in her gut, she knew this time was going to be different.  
  
"Adam," softly squeaked as Trap-Jaw tightened his grip, almost causing her to lose consciousness. Fortunately, the blue, half man, half machine was too focused on his master's taunts and did not hear her.  
  
"C'mon up He-Man," he cackled. "The view's great, but its one hell of a drop!"  
  
Before the two men could catapult themselves up, a great flash of light came from below and landed at Skeletor's feet.  
  
The light faded and revealed Erin standing face to face with the dark overlord. Skeletor's evil grin widened. He felt her power radiating off of her and started thinking of ways to use it. He was so consumed by his madness, that he didn't even notice that the light around her was getting softer and softer by the second.  
  
"Aah, I was wondering when you were going to join us," he hissed as He-Man and Man-At-Arms landed behind her. "I was beginning to think you decided against accepting our little invitation."  
  
Erin's eyes flashed with determination and anger. "As if I had a choice in the matter," she seethed back at him. "What do you want from me?"  
  
Skeletor laughed ferociously. "Are you kidding? You have to ask?" he taunted her. "I want your power you stupid woman. I want you to give me all of that delicious power you possess."  
  
Erin's mind raced. Behind her He-Man pulled his sword and Man-At-Arms aimed his laser.  
  
"That's never going to happen," He-Man growled, again sounding a little like Jerry.  
  
Skeletor smiled again. "I see, a one for one exchange doesn't suit you? How about one for three?" Just then, Tri-Clops appeared holding a limp Teela by the back of her collar along with Clawful, who dropped an unconscious Stratos on the ground like a pile of rocks. Tri-Clops carried Teela over to the other side of the cliff, parallel to Trap-Jaw, who was still holding the Queen over the deep drop.  
  
"No!!!!" Erin, He-Man and Man-At-Arms yelled.  
  
Skeletor's voice seeped with evil. "Do you think we can hear the sound their bodies will make when they hit the ground? It's pretty far down... Do we have a deal?"  
  
Erin turned and looked at He-Man who was looking at his mother with fear and anger in his eyes. The same look Man-At-arms had as he watched his daughter's body dangle over certain death.  
  
Knowing he had the upper hand anyway, Skeletor decided to have a little fun. Before Erin could answer his request, he cut her off.  
  
"No deal then, okay...DROP THEM!" he yelled to his minions.  
  
Erin tried to scream but nothing came out. Time seemed to slow as Tri-Clops released Teela and she started to fall. Erin could hear the Queen scream.  
  
Man-At-Arms dove to the side of the cliff and caught his daughter's arm just in time. The limp weight of her body made it difficult and awkward for the aging soldier to pull her up quickly. He struggled with as Tri-Clops pointed his laser eye at him. With his free hand, Man-At-Arms grabbed the cyclopic mutant's foot and yanked it out from beneath him.  
  
Skeletor heard his minion's scream as he lost his footing and went over the edge.  
  
On the other side of him, He-Man was diving to save the Queen from the same fate but missed her hand by inches. The warrior pushed Trap-Jaw back so hard that he rolled down the spine of Snake Mountain before hit a rock, knocking him out.  
  
He watched in shock as his mother fell, stuck out her arms, and caught herself on a stone tooth on the bottom jaw of Snake Mountain's mouth. She dangled in the air and looked up at her son with pleading eyes.  
  
"Hold on!" he yelled. Below her, he saw a yellow flicker come closer and closer. Before he could blink, Buzz-Off grabbed the Queen and flew her away to safety.  
  
While all this was going on, Erin was left to contend with Skeletor. She clutched her hands in fury and took deep breaths as she stared at the skull- faced demon.  
  
"You evil, sadistic bastard.." She hissed. "I'll finish you if it's the last thing I do."  
  
Skeletor raised his hands up in a surrendering gesture.  
  
"Easy now," he cackled. "Why would you want to do that? Especially since I brought someone here to welcome you to my home.."  
  
Erin opened her mouth to protest when she heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Erin, Erin darling.."  
  
Erin went blank. She knew the voice, but it couldn't be.  
  
Behind Skeletor a woman appeared from the shadows. She had brown and gray hair and rosy cheeks with bright blue eyes and a warm smile. She held her arms open and walked slowly towards Erin whose eyes were filling with tears.  
  
Behind her He-Man was helping Man-At-Arms hand Teela to Buzz-Off. He looked at Erin just as the woman embraced her. He watched Erin's lips tremble as she said...  
  
"Mom? Mom.how..dead.you died..what?" Erin couldn't see past her tears.  
  
He-Man knew it was a trick.  
  
"Erin, that's not your mother," he desperately yelled. "It's a trick, move back!!!"  
  
The woman looked at Erin, wiped away her tears and smiled.  
  
"Don't listen to him, I'm here, I've always been here..."  
  
The woman placed both hands on the sides of Erin's head.  
  
"Erin get out of there!!!" He-Man yelled again as he ran towards her.  
  
Erin looked into the woman's eyes as she smiled slyly.  
  
"I've been here with Skeletor..always here.."  
  
He-Man was almost to her and reached out to grab her away.  
  
Erin was transfixed in her spot and didn't realize the woman's voice had changed.  
  
"Just as you'll never leave!!!"  
  
With that Evil-Lyn transformed back into herself and sent a horrible shock wave spell through Erin's mind. A flash of bright light escaped her blinding He-Man and Evil-Lyn as Erin screamed in pain.  
  
Evil-Lyn spun around to her master.  
  
"Now, Skeletor!!!!!!" she yelled.  
  
The evil one put his hand on Erin's head and spun her body around. "Destroy them!" he commanded her.  
  
Erin was still screaming, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she put her arms up and beams of light shot out from her hands. She narrowly missed He- Man but sent Man-At-Arms flying off of the edge. Luckily, Buzz-Off was on the way back up and caught his friend from the fall.  
  
Erin's arms dropped and her body relaxed. Her power was almost gone, along with her life force. He-Man ran to help her but was attacked from the side by Clawful. The mutant tried to push the warrior back to the edge and was succeeding until He-man grabbed him by the waist and flipped him over his head.  
  
Without realizing what he had done, He-Man turned to see Clawful fall to his death.  
  
He turned again and saw Erin drop to her knees. Once again he moved towards her, but this time Evil-Lyn caught him in a spell and the most powerful man in the universe could not move.  
  
"Gotcha," Evil-Lyn laughed.  
  
Skeletor smiled in delight. "I control her mind now muscle head! And when she destroys you, nothing will prevent me from walking into Grayskull!!!!!"  
  
With that, he looked down at the woman kneeling at his feet.  
  
"Destroy He-Man!" he commanded.  
  
Erin looked at him with lifeless eyes and nodded. She stood, turned and raised her hands toward He-Man. Then she felt something shift inside her.  
  
He-Man looked at her with great concern. He saw the light around her flicker, it was almost gone now.  
  
"Please," he begged her. "Erin, fight...you have to."  
  
Erin dropped to her knees, her arms faltered but she raised them again. Her mind was everywhere. She felt faint, and things were getting blurry.  
  
"I SAID DESTROY HIM!!!!!!" Skeletor commanded again.  
  
Memories flashed in Erin's mind, her mother, the Black Hills, Jerry, Eternia, Marlena, Adam..."  
  
"Adam," she whispered. She regained some control of her thoughts.  
  
She looked sadly at He-Man, still in Evil-Lyn's clutches.  
  
"I SAID NOW YOU STUPID WOMAN!!!!!!" Skeletor demanded once again.  
  
Erin was out of time. She knew what she had to do.  
  
"I love you, Adam.." She whispered as she looked at the man who had made her feel whole again.  
  
Even a few feet away He-Man heard her and felt something inside him tear apart. He watched helplessly as Erin gathered up all of her remaining power..  
  
"No, she can't..." he thought out loud.  
  
Erin mustered up all that she could. She raised her arms and just as Skeletor was about to yell again, she clamped her hands on his legs and unleashed all of what she had into him.  
  
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Skeletor screamed as he and Erin were consumed in glaring light. His havoc staff dropped from his hand and turned to ashes on the ground.  
  
Evil-Lyn fell back onto the ground, setting He-Man free from her spell. The warrior ran towards the light as Evil-Lyn cast another spell and disappeared.  
  
Skeletor's voice was slowly fading away as was the light. He-Man was blinded but kept moving forward.  
  
Finally, Skeletor could no longer be heard and the light faded. He-Man rubbed his eyes and when he could see again, he saw a pile of ashes where Skeletor once stood...  
  
..next to Erin's lifeless body. 


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 12: THAT WHICH IS DESTINED...  
  
On top of Snake Mountain...  
  
Stratos' eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up. He felt a cool breeze pass over him and he inhaled a deep breath of dank air.  
  
The last thing he remembered was hiding in a dark corridor deep within the bowels of Snake Mountain with Teela and then a sharp slam to the back of his head. After that, everything was a blank. He put his hand on his throbbing head as he tried to get some sense of where he was now.  
  
After seeing a motionless Trap Jaw at the bottom of an embankment, he concluded that he must be outside of Snake Mountain, but he was unsure where exactly.  
  
Closing his eyes, he wondered how long he had been unconscious and what he had missed when he heard a voice calling to him.  
  
"Stratos, please, I need your help.."  
  
Stratos turned about to see who was calling him. For a second he could have sworn it was Prince Adam, but was surprised to see He-Man instead.  
  
His surprise was fleeting however, as his eyes fell upon the limp body He- Man was carrying in his arms. He shook his head in an attempt to regain his visual focus as he tried to see who the poor soul was.  
  
Part of him already knew, though, by the sadness in He-Man's voice.  
  
Stratos stood to face his friend. He-Man looked totally withdrawn from the world as he cradled Erin's head in his chest.  
  
"Is she..." Stratos started already knowing the answer. "How?"  
  
He-Man seemed virtually unphased by Stratos' question, the gone-from-the- world look still in his eyes.  
  
"She took on Skeletor," he mumbled. " She defeated him too, but it cost Erin her life."  
  
He sounded like a zombie. There was no emotion in his voice or in his facial expression.  
  
"We need to get her to Castle Grayskull immediately," he blurted out. "Maybe the Sorceress has found a way to help her."  
  
Stratos couldn't bring himself to tell his friend that such a thing might not be possible, but he shook the notion away, quickly scolding himself for giving up.  
  
"I'll fly her straight there post haste," he said strongly. "I'll do anything I can."  
  
He-Man nodded and ever-so-gently placed Erin in Stratos' arms. He expected her to wake up and yell at him for not letting her get to the castle herself. As he began to pull his arms away, her head rolled lightly to the side. He whimpered softly and quickly placed his hand under her face and tilted it up.  
  
"She's still warm," he mumbled, never once taking his eyes off his newfound love. "Please hurry Stratos, I'll be right behind you."  
  
Stratos nodded and as soon as He-Man stepped back, he took off for Grayskull. As he left his friend standing on the mountain, he wondered just how attached had He-Man become Erin? Then another thought occurred to him.  
  
"My gods, how are we going to tell Prince Adam?"  
  
At the base of Snake Mountain..  
  
The Defenders, Man-At-Arms and the Queen loaded onto sky sleds and into the Wind Raider after they saw the explosion of light come from the top of the mountain. Buzz-Off was ahead of them all and halfway to the top when they saw Stratos fly away carrying something in his arms.  
  
Upon seeing this, Queen Marlena's stomach dropped. She already knew what, or rather who, Stratos had and she felt her heart break for the girl..and for her son. She knew how Adam felt for Erin, she saw it in his eyes on top of the mountain.  
  
Stratos' flight did not go unnoticed to Man-At-Arms either. He didn't know what he was going to say to his pupil, and what was worse, he had no idea how the warrior would take this new, tragic turn in his life.  
  
When they finally reached the top of the mountain, Teela set her sky sled down, dismounted and walked over to her friend, who's face was still emotionless.  
  
"He-Man, I'm so sorry," she said as she reached up to put her hand on his shoulder, but he walked away from her toward the Wind Raider.  
  
Sorry was the last thing He-Man wanted to hear. What he wanted to hear was Erin's voice, scolding him, laughing at Orko, talking to Jerry, saying "I love you, Adam" again.  
  
The Queen reached out and grabbed her son's hand, in an effort to comfort him.  
  
He-Man didn't react at all.  
  
"Skeletor's been defeated," he said numbly. "He will burden us no longer."  
  
He slowly looked up to Man-At-Arms who was staring at the pile of ashes on the middle of the cliff.  
  
"Duncan," He-Man asked almost mutely. "Can you please take me to Grayskull."  
  
Man-At-Arms nodded in agreement as He-Man stepped into the raider and sat down next to the Queen. Without wasting anytime, Man-At-Arms and the rest of the Defenders were in the air heading in the same direction as Stratos had been moments ago.  
  
Marlena leaned over to the great warrior as she squeezed his hand. She knew the young lovers had only known each other for a few days, but time meant nothing in love and she knew from personal experience. Why, she had fallen in love with Adam's father, King Randor, the very day he helped her after her ship crashed on Eternia.  
  
She couldn't imagine what it would have been like to lose him so soon, or even now for that matter.  
  
"Oh my son," she whispered into his ear. "Do not bear the weight of this tragedy by yourself. Please, let me help you. I know what she means to you."  
  
Finally, He-Man gave in and showed the first sign of emotion since Erin destroyed Skeletor as a single, hot tear rolled down his dusty, scratched cheek.  
  
"I love her mother," he whispered. "How am I supposed to let her go without some kind of fight? How is it possible that I am the strongest man in the universe but couldn't save her?"  
  
Tears streamed down Marlena's face now. She wanted to believe that something could be done. She would trade places with the woman in a heartbeat if it brought the same spark of happiness back to Adam's eyes as were present that last night at dinner.  
  
"I begged her," he continued. "But I couldn't stop her from taking on Skeletor. I couldn't stop her from dying."  
  
The Queen nodded as He-Man's gaze looked out onto the horizon. She sniffled and thought about the tragedy of the whole thing. Skeletor was gone, and everyone was free from the evil he had brought to the lush and beautiful planet.  
  
But it was all for naught, she thought, because the one person who should be rejoicing about this new freedom will always be haunted by what it had cost him.  
  
Marlena looked out as the sun was beginning to set and hoped Stratos would reach Grayskull soon.  
  
Inside Castle Grayskull..  
  
The Sorceress had been pacing for almost an hour. She stopped cold when she felt the strong presence of evil slip away from the life of Eternia.  
  
She smiled and thought to herself "Skeletor has been defeated..."  
  
But the smile quickly turned into a frown as she realized what that very well meant.  
  
In all of her wisdom and knowledge, she did not know how she was going to handle what was to come next. She looked out the eye shaped window of the castle and saw Stratos flying towards Grayskull, carrying a lifeless form.  
  
She closed her eyes and concentrated on him. In her mind she saw Erin's limp body.  
  
She lowered her head and slowly but sadly opened her eyes.  
  
She remembered her conversation with Zodac in the halls of the Universal Counsel. She pleaded to him with her own life, but it was no use.  
  
"This is her destiny," Zodac contended. "It's a vital part of the prophecy and the future of Eternia. Skeletor will be defeated and peace will reign on Eternia. The inhabitants will flourish and prosper into a better life with this woman's sacrifice. I cannot interfere with that. I'm sorry."  
  
The Sorceress was out of options, as was Erin.  
  
Elsewhere, in a dark place..  
  
It was cold, but it didn't seem to bother her. The small glimmer of light was getting bigger and bigger and as it did it became warmer and warmer around her. There was something in the light that was very welcoming, almost beckoning her.  
  
Considering what she had just been through, Erin felt pretty darn good and started walking towards the light. She was in a restful daze and the light seemed to comfort her.  
  
"You can't go there yet," a strong, but beautiful voice seemed to sing to her.  
  
She turned and saw nothing. She looked ahead of her and saw the light pulling back.  
  
"It's not your time child," the voice called out again.  
  
Erin was still calm but a little confused.  
  
"Why?" was all she seemed to get out.  
  
An image started to appear to her. At first, it was just a blur, but the form of a man in white soon became distinguishable, then physical features, until she saw him in his entirety.  
  
"Erin, you have to go back.." He said again. "You are still needed there.."  
  
Erin was so relaxed, she seemed almost apathetic about it.  
  
She studied this man's features for what seemed likes several moments and the memory of a man's picture on her mother's dresser came back to her.  
  
"Daddy?" she said calmly.  
  
Outside Castle Grayskull...  
  
Stratos landed at the very end of the great jawbridge and set Erin's body down. The Sorceress appeared in the doorway of the castle and looked at the winged warrior.  
  
"The others are coming," he told her. "Should I bring Erin inside?"  
  
The Sorceress looked sadly at him. She waved her hand and a small bed of dirt and flowers appeared on the bridge. She then used her magic to pick up Erin's broken body and placed it on the makeshift alter.  
  
Stratos hung his head and stepped back as Teela's sky sled came closer in the distance, followed by the other Defenders and He-Man.  
  
The Sorceress looked at her friends as they all started to land around the castle. She dreaded this moment with every fiber in her magical body.  
  
Teela and Man-At-Arms approached Stratos, followed by the other Defenders. The group seemed to part as the Queen walked forward with her hand to her mouth. Without hesitation, she started to cry.  
  
Man-At-Arms placed his arm around her and lent her his shoulder. He turned to see He-Man still sitting in the Wind Raider. The warrior didn't even look where Erin's body lay, he just stood and jumped out of the vessel.  
  
Everyone except the crying queen looked down as He-Man approached the Sorceress. He still could not bring himself to look at her body.  
  
The Sorceress reached up and touched He-Man arm. He looked at her with questioning and tear-filled eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "But there is nothing that can be done."  
  
He-Man nodded and finally turned to the flowered alter where Erin lay.  
  
He walked to it and closed his eyes. The great warrior dropped to his knees as Jerry trotted up beside him. The sad rottweiler whimpered and pawed at his dead master's arm, as if that alone would cause her to wake up.  
  
Rather than saying anything, the dog let out a loud howl in grievance.  
  
Wherever she was, Erin could swear she heard Jerry howling. She looked around her, expecting to see her pet, but it was to no avail.  
  
She looked at her father again.  
  
"Daddy," she started. "Am I dead?"  
  
Her father continued to walk closer to her. The gray hair seemed to shine brightly, and his blue eyes were lit up and a broad smile crossed his wise and handsome features.  
  
"Nearly," he said. "As close as someone can be to death." He held out his hand to her and she took it without thinking.  
  
"But, you can't give into it yet," he continued. "You are still needed out there. You still have much to do."  
  
Erin's confusion didn't phase her relaxed state. She looked at her father as if she had never seen him before.  
  
"I thought I was supposed to die," she started. "The Sorceress said all of the messengers died, like you did. I used my power that you gave me against Skeletor and beat him, and I was suppose to die."  
  
Her father just beamed and hugged her.  
  
"I know, and I am so proud of you," he pulled back and looked at her. "You did what you were supposed to do. To be quite honest, I thought you would take one look at the portal I opened for you and run the other way. But you didn't, you went and you fought and did everything right."  
  
She smiled at him as he continued to gush.  
  
"And I would like nothing more for you to be here with me and your mother, but it's not right yet. You have to go back, soon, if you wait to long, you will have to stay here."  
  
Erin started to say something but her father covered her mouth with his hand.  
  
"You have to," he said as he started to pull back into the light. He pointed to a long dark tunnel. "Someone is waiting for you..you still have much to do."  
  
Erin raised her arm to stop him but he kept drifting away.  
  
"I love you baby," his voice echoed. "I'll always be with you."  
  
Erin put her arm down. "I love you too, Daddy," she whispered.  
  
Outside Grayskull..  
  
It was dark out. Everyone had gone back to the palace on He-Man's request. The Sorceress sat on her throne inside Grayskull, still numb from the events of the day.  
  
Outside, the moonlight shined brightly on Eternia. He-Man had fallen asleep with his head in his arms next to Erin's body. Jerry lightly snored next to them.  
  
He-Man's slumber was filled with dreams of him walking in the forest, hearing a loud crash and finding Erin laying at the base of a hill. Then his dream cut to the palace balcony where he watched a confused but beautiful woman sit with her head in her hands in the gardens. Then, at a dinner table where the same woman laughed and smiled as Orko accidentally dumped a goblet of wine on Ram-Man's head. Then, in her quarters as they were embraced in their first kiss..  
  
He groaned a little but did not wake.  
  
Not even when Erin's hand rose up and touched his hair.  
  
Inside the Castle..  
  
The Sorceress sat in her dingy throne in a trance like state. She was so out of it she didn't even blink when the portal opened at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
She didn't even stand when Zodac emerged from it.  
  
The great titan looked at her and shook his head.  
  
"What, no 'hello?'" he asked her cheerfully.  
  
The Sorceress knew he had to know what had just happened on Eternia and she wondered why he was so damn happy. Perhaps it was because Skeletor was gone. Perhaps it was because the great prophecy had finally been fulfilled.  
  
For whatever reason it was, it wasn't enough to make her smile.  
  
She put her hand on her head and slowly rubbed her forehead.  
  
"Skeletor is gone, we are free of his evil tyranny forever," she mumbled. "I assume that's why you're paying me this visit, great Zodac."  
  
Zodac chuckled. And took a seat on the stairs below her.  
  
"Well, not really," he began slowly. "Skeletor hasn't been defeated. He's still out there, he's just been banished...temporarily."  
  
The Sorceress looked up. Her cheeks became red with rage.  
  
"What do you mean?" she retorted. "The prophecy has been fulfilled. That girl laying dead out there killed him and died because of it. A man's world just collapsed as a result of her death and now you're telling me it was in vain?!?"  
  
She was out of her seat and in front of Zodac in an instant. The titan just smiled and tried to soothe her.  
  
"Easy there my friend," he replied. "Let me explain something to you."  
  
The Sorceress clutched her fists.  
  
"Please do," she seethed through gritted teeth.  
  
Zodac stood up and brushed himself off.  
  
"You know you should sweep this place once in a while," he quipped but her expression did not change so he decided to quit playing games with her. "Everyone has a destiny, a course of events in their life that leads up to something. As much as we at the Counsel would like to say everything is concrete..we can't. Destiny, like everything else, can be subject to change, the only thing is we counsel members can't be the ones to change it. That's up to the Fates and damned those three women, we never really know what they are going to do."  
  
The Sorceress became confused but relaxed her anger. "Okay," she said slowly. "What you are saying in the concept of destiny is fallible because of fate."  
  
Zodac waived his arm nonchalantly.  
  
"Exactly," he said. "And for two more points, what is the premise that most prophecies are based on?"  
  
The Sorceress started to catch on to what he was saying.  
  
"Destiny," she blurt out.  
  
Zodac slapped his mightly hands together. "Right. Now if destinies can be fallible or changed, than so can.."  
  
"Prophecies.." the Sorceress finished for him.  
  
"Correct," he replied. "Now here's the thing. When Erin fought Skeletor at Snake Mountain, she had already used up too much power before that to kill him. That wasn't anticipated in her destiny. In their little tit-for-tat, she destroyed Skeletor's physical presence, not his spiritual one. That will eventually take physical form again and he will come back, and he will be very, very angry, count on that."  
  
The Sorceress nodded, following Zodac's explanation closely.  
  
"Now, peace will reign for many years on Eternia as prophesized," he said. "But not nearly as long as anticipated, in fact, he'll be back sooner than you think. Besides Evil-Lyn is still out there and you can be sure that she'll be around to stir up the muck every now and again."  
  
Zodac snapped his fingers and made a goblet of wine appear, and took a drink.  
  
"Would you like some," he offered the Sorceress who seemed to be getting frustrated with his stall tactics.  
  
"No," he contended. "Okay, then. Anyway, the prophecy has been changed and a new one has been formed. It isn't in the books yet, but it will be. Would you like a sneak preview?"  
  
The Sorceress nodded as Zodac waived his hand and the goblet of wine turned into a scroll wrapped in a gold ribbon. The scroll floated over to the Sorceress and she plucked it from the air.  
  
"I think you might actually get a kick out of this new one," Zodac chuckled. "It certainly makes things interesting for your friends."  
  
The Sorceress opened the scroll and started to read it. A smile started to spread across her face as her eyes followed the wording on the prophetic scroll.  
  
"Oh my," she said grinning from ear to ear. "You're right Zodac, things just got very interesting."  
  
Hours later, outside Grayskull...  
  
He-Man awoke as the Eternian sun shone brightly. Without raising his head, he reached his arm up to put it on Erin's body, but a handful of dirt was all he got.  
  
He peaked his eyes over his arm to see if he got turned around in his sleep. His head jerked up when he saw the bed of flowers and Erin's body gone. He sat up, Jerry was gone too.  
  
"What's going on," he said angrily.  
  
For a second, he thought someone might have stolen her body. If that was the case, that person better pray that He-Man never finds them. Then another thought entered his mind; perhaps Man-At-Arms had taken her body back to the palace for burial.  
  
Maybe he accidentally pushed her body into the abyss while he was sleeping. Maybe the Sorceress took her inside Grayskull. Several different thoughts raced through his head as he looked around frantically.  
  
He decided to ask the Sorceress for some answers. At that point, he needed some clarity and walked into Grayskull.  
  
He found the Sorceress sitting happily on her throne flipping through a book. She raised her head and smiled broadly as she watched the dirty, exhausted warrior enter her chamber.  
  
He-Man wondered what she was so damn happy about and it annoyed him that she could be so chipper at a time like this.  
  
"Good morning He-Man," she practically sang it to him. "I trust you have some questions for me."  
  
He-Man's mouth dropped into a frown. He couldn't understand how she could be so cheerful considering the woman he loved had just died and now her body was missing.  
  
"Where's Erin's body?" he demanded. "Did you do something with it?"  
  
The Sorceress stood up and walked down to him. She waved her hand nonchalantly as Zodac had done earlier and looked at her friend in total innocence.  
  
"Well, I may have played a part in it," she said flippantly. "But it was not entirely my doing. It was kind of up to the fates."  
  
He-Man had had enough. He was astounded that the Sorceress of all people would play such cruel games with him.  
  
"Tell me where she is!!!!!" he roared. The walls of Grayskull shook at the extreme vibrations from his mighty voice.  
  
The Sorceress kept up her game and stuck her pinky in her ear as if to clean it out.  
  
"No need to yell, He-Man," she relented. "I will be happy to show you." 


	14. Chapter 14 final

****Disclaimer in Chapter 1. I reference one of Bruce Springsteen's songs here, but for fun only and because the Boss rules. This is the last chapter and I'm thinking of continuing a series, but I need any advice I can get; critiques are welcome. So please, read and review. ENJOY!  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 14: HOMECOMING...  
  
Erin's eyes slowly opened as Jerry practically licked her face right off. She was laying down facing the sky, and rays of sunlight broke through the leaves of the trees.  
  
The green trees.  
  
Erin closed her eyes again and slowly started to sit up. She propped herself up on her left elbow and looked around. She saw lots of green trees, and green grass, and a clearing..  
  
And her jeep.  
  
She sighed and lay back down. "Talk to me Jer," she said aloud hopefully.  
  
The dog just whimpered and pawed at her leg.  
  
She sighed and put her arms over her head. "It wasn't real," she thought to herself. "It was just a dream."  
  
She hated that thought. I had all felt so real to her, everything, the sights, the sounds, the smells..  
  
The touches.  
  
Adam felt real.  
  
"He doesn't even exist," she mumbled to herself. The one thing that had ever made sense to her wasn't real.  
  
She sat up, slowly. She looked at herself. She was wearing her forest service uniform and her backpack was next to her. She wondered how she came to pass out in the woods. She sighed again as she pulled a couple of leaves out of her hair. How long had she been out here?  
  
She stood up and grabbed her backpack. Thoughts of Eternia raced through her mind. Thoughts of the Royal Palace and Snake Mountain. Thoughts of Marlena and Skeletor and the Sorceress.  
  
"It was all a dream," she mumbled to herself as she walked down to the clearing. "None of it was real."  
  
Jerry kept whining as he trotted behind her. She wished he would say something witty or tell her she was wrong. Then she scolded herself for actually believing her dog could talk.  
  
She reached the jeep and threw her backpack in the back. She held the door open for Jerry to jump in and then she climbed in herself. She had left the keys in the ignition.  
  
"Smart," she said to herself. "Someone could have come along and stolen the jeep and I was flat on my back in the woods."  
  
Jerry cocked his head and snorted. She looked at her pet.  
  
"I was dreaming wasn't I?" she asked him, almost expecting an answer.  
  
The dog just sighed and put his head down.  
  
"Guess that answers my question," she thought as she turned the key as heard the jeep start up.  
  
She sat there for a moment and looked at the clearing. She then closed her eyes and tried to picture what happened. It was no use, the only thing she saw was Adam's face. Her throat tightened up as she thought about their time together. Then she opened her eyes and shook her head, quietly scolding herself again for getting so caught up in a dream.  
  
She put the jeep into drive and took off for the office.  
  
A week later..  
  
Erin sat in her cabin listening to the radio. Out here in the woods she didn't get very good television reception so she rarely watched it. She decided after the events of the week, she was going to put in a CD and let the week roll off of her.  
  
That day she woke up in the woods, she arrived back at the office just as the search party was getting ready to leave. She had only been missing for 24 hours, but when she couldn't explain to Bill what had happened, he told her to take a vacation, and to lay off the drugs.  
  
"That's rich," she thought. "Him accusing me of drugs." The man had pictures of his protest days at Berkeley sitting on his desk, and a couple of them actually showed him taking a hit off of a joint.  
  
She took him up on his vacation offer, though, in fact she welcomed it. It gave her a chance to sort things out.  
  
She still had no idea how she ended up passed out in the woods, and eventually decided it was fatigue.  
  
She finally came to some kind of peace that she had dreamt the whole thing about Eternia and swore never, ever to tell anyone, not even the shrink that Bill suggested she get. It was cold outside that night, so she threw another log into her burning fireplace, sat down in her recliner, and sipped a cup of hot tea. She picked up the remote to her stereo and changed the CD over. She was in the mood for one of "The Boss's" tunes.  
  
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes as the song "Human Touch," started up. She quietly hummed along to the song and started to drift off. Her rest was soon interrupted by Jerry's barking.  
  
She opened her eyes and looked at him.  
  
"You need to go out, boy?" she asked him. The rottweiler ran to the door and started scratching at it. Erin got up and let the impatient dog out. A cold gust of air blew in through the door as she started to close it. There was a familiar scent in the air, but she chalked it up to the fall air.  
  
She sat back down and looked at the fire place as Springsteen wailed on in the background. A few moments later, Jerry started barking again. She heard him scratch the door from the outside.  
  
"Gee, that was quick," she said mildly irritated that the dog was cutting into her relaxation. She got up and pulled her sweater around her. Jerry kept his tantrum going strong.  
  
"Okay, okay I'm coming already," she said, as if the dog could hear her. She started to open the door. "Do you want in or do you want out?"  
  
A gust of wind jerked the door from Erin's hand. She turned her head and watched Jerry come in. She started to turn to close the door when she heard him.  
  
"Well actually, it's kind of cold out here, so I was wondering if I could come in?" a familiar voice said.  
  
Erin slowly turned around to the open door. Her gaze followed the man's feet from the floor to his waist, to his chest, past his broad shoulders, up to his beautiful gray eyes.  
  
Adam.  
  
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She thought she was dreaming again.  
  
He walked into the cabin and closed the door. He was wearing blue jeans and a thick, brown leather coat, not in the clothes she dreamt about him wearing on Eternia, but it was him. His blonde wavy hair had been tousled by the wind but his wonderful, brilliant smile was the same.  
  
"Adam?" she whispered as he walked closer to her. "Are you real? I thought it was all a dream."  
  
Adam laughed and reached over to grab her hand. She let him take it as he held up her hand to his face.  
  
"Do I feel real?" he asked her, a mischievous sparkle lit up his eyes.  
  
She was still astounded. He looked real, he sounded real, and so help her he felt real..and wonderful. A thought finally clicked in her head: it hadn't been a dream.  
  
"How did you get here?" she blurt out. She didn't know what to say.  
  
He inched a little closer to her, putting his strong arms around her waist, pulling her towards him.  
  
"I got a little reprieve from work back on Eternia," he said while examining all of her face. "Since old bone head isn't around, it seems that I'm not needed as much. So I thought I'd take a little vacation, with the help of one of the Sorceress's portals."  
  
Erin just looked at him. She wanted to pinch herself; she didn't want to suffer the heartbreak of another dream involving Adam.  
  
But he was real.  
  
And he was in her cabin.  
  
Pulling her face towards his..  
  
Closer and closer..  
  
She kept her eyes open as he gently brushed her lips with his.  
  
"Oh yeah, he's real," she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and gave into what was quickly becoming a very passionate kiss, even more consuming than the first one they shared.  
  
After several minutes, they finally broke. He leaned his forehead against hers. The both smiled broadly.  
  
"Well, my week just got a heck of a lot better," she said with tears forming in her eyes.  
  
Adam laughed and hugged her.  
  
"Yeah, well mine did too," he started. "The Sorceress told me she had to send you home, something about the healing process." He played with a stray strand of her hair.  
  
"So I had to wait a few days before I could come see you," he continued. "Plus, some stuff had to be cleared up at home."  
  
She looked at him, studying all of his handsome features. She thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest.  
  
"So, you came to see me?" she teased him playfully.  
  
Adam, pulled her close again and started to lean in for part two of the kiss they just shared.  
  
"Actually, I was hoping I could convince you to come back to Eternia with me," he leaned in for a short kiss. "I kind of miss you and want you around, always."  
  
She kissed him back and then pulled back to meet his gaze. Her left eyebrow cocked up.  
  
"Leave all this for a new life on another planet where I almost died once," she said with fake sarcasm before looking at Jerry. "What do you think, Jer?"  
  
The dog looked at her and snorted as if he was saying "Are you kidding, like you have to ask?" He walked up and nuzzled Adam's free hand.  
  
They both laughed and placed their heads together again.  
  
"I think that's a yes," she laughed vivaciously. "Yes, I will go back with you...I love you, Adam."  
  
She leaned in to kiss him again. He smiled as he leaned closer.  
  
"I love you too," he breathed and kissed her.  
  
When they broke apart again he grinned.  
  
"Besides, I promised mother some grandchildren soon, and I can't do that by myself.."  
  
THE END...? 


End file.
